you gotta love the creativity, too bad he couldnt keep up to his promise, however he was saved from embaresment due to Ben's bike running out of fuel.
And, speaking of out of fuel, how the heck in the world do you let that happen? i wonder if they fill it up to the top or they calculate to how much they need to run lighter.

overall great race, i thought haga was gonna come on top.
race 2 was good as well.

also i was gonna comment on action replay before, but i was too lazy, so i figured since i posted a thread now, i might as well squeez it in.

i feel like there is not enough replay coverage during the race. they only show when top riders go down or overtake another riders, and not even them so much. for example they just say so and so went down, or is ahead of so and so. WSBK coverage is poor, MotoGP also. the AMA has better coverage, i mean WTH. they need to change that. what do you think?

You know,.........with just a little bit less bad luck, Ben Spies could have won every WSB race this year. I mean clean the table. I don't think its to much of a stretch to state that.

YES, a lot of that is Ben Spies, but some of that is the Rossi Crank whether people want to admit it or not. Proof of that is little known racer by the name of Tom Sykes running in the top 5 with his Rossi Crank Yamaha.

But Ben is doing the impossible. Left home to go to Europe to tracks he has never seen, new bike, new team, new mechanics, foreign countries, dominating qualifying and the races and with just a little bit less bad luck, he could have won them all.

Truly Amazing. Some of that is the Rossi Crank, I am convinced of it. It saves his tires and TIRES WIN RACES. May not do much for the street riders but sound nice, but for racing, it is da bomb IMO.

I know re-name the crossplane crank, the Rossi Crank!

And to think without the red flag due to the cluster F**** at the beginning, Ben would have had enough fuel!

yes, i agree to almost all that you guys said. i agree that Ben spies is a great rider and i think he has the heart and guts to take the bike to the extreme, border limits, that other riders are not willing to, and that's why he went down few times. but then again, thats why he is in the second place in the championship, and i have a feeling that towards the end of the seaon that he will take the first place. as for being new to the tracks, i dont think that has a lot to do with him being unseccesful. i think he gets enough time to learn the track during the practice. i mean even the racers that raced on a track a year ago feel the same way when they get to that track as someone who comes there for the first time. now its a different story if racer lived there and ride there year round, but these racers dont do that.

Haga is yet to beat Ben on any track other than Valencia (which is a solid Duc track), yes he's had mishaps but has clearly proven he's the best rider/racer in the series. He will close the gap and Haga will fold, Ben will win the championship. I forgot about the red flag and you're right without that it would have been a double and Haga would only have a 26 point led going into the next round!! Haga should consider himself very fortunate to be leading this series!!

i wouldnt underestimate haga that much. who knows if it wasnt for the red flag, fabrizio might have stayed on top. fabrizio was fast, and he had a good gap before the flag..

Haga is yet to beat Ben on any track other than Valencia (which is a solid Duc track), yes he's had mishaps but has clearly proven he's the best rider/racer in the series. He will close the gap and Haga will fold, Ben will win the championship. I forgot about the red flag and you're right without that it would have been a double and Haga would only have a 26 point led going into the next round!! Haga should consider himself very fortunate to be leading this series!!

Your joking right!!!

Ben should consider himself very fortunate that he was not injured in any of those crashes...We know haga is going to do well at every round (there's history to prove it). How will ben do? Ben has been doing great, but also very bad..what if he doesn't get pole or has to start mid pack?? Haga will not fold.. We haven't even seen haga really race the duc yet.. Ben is doing all the damage to his title hopes on his own. All haga needs to do at this point is be consistant. Ben has been the only one to fold, and needs to worry about losing second place at the moment. The pressure is on Ben every race, not Nori!!

We have not seen the real haga on the ducati yet, when/ if the points get within the red, then the real haga will be unleashed. History shows, that haga will only get faster as the year goes on...and he is still learning the bike! that was clear when fabrizio passed him on the brakes. This is nori's year and he is not going to let it slip away-

I wanted to reach into the TV and smash Fabrizio for celebrating like he did in Race 1. Man, he looked like he beat Spies in some Epic battle. But he didn't. He was going to lose by several seconds. To celebrate that much over a mechanical failure, I have lost all respect for that douche.

Mat Mladin released a blog about this as well. I respect Mat a lot.
http://matmladin.blogspot.com/

I wanted to reach into the TV and smash Fabrizio for celebrating like he did in Race 1. Man, he looked like he beat Spies in some Epic battle. But he didn't. He was going to lose by several seconds. To celebrate that much over a mechanical failure, I have lost all respect for that douche.

Mat Mladin released a blog about this as well. I respect Mat a lot.
http://matmladin.blogspot.com/

He was celerbrating his first wsbk victory..more than winning the race. But it was also his home race.... hold judgemnet until after miller, as i'm sure ben will be doing the funky chicken dance....

problem is mat is the biggest douch in the AMA- there's your problem!

He was celerbrating his first wsbk victory..more than winning the race. But it was also his home race.... hold judgemnet until after miller, as i'm sure ben will be doing the funky chicken dance....

problem is mat is the biggest douch in the AMA- there's your problem!

I know it was his first victory, true. But to win it like that is not really a win. But I guess every race has 'what ifs'. This one just happened to be 300 yards from the finish. Still hate Fabreeze.

I used to think Mat was a douche... I really hated him. For all the reasons everyone says - unfriendly, boring, wins everything, etc. But the more you read about him over the years, I have grown to understand him a little better. And his talent is undeniable.

And to think without the red flag due to the cluster F**** at the beginning, Ben would have had enough fuel!

Exactly what I was thinking too!!!! :secret:


:rant

without the redflag, fabrizio would have been gone! he had a massive gap from the start

without the redflag, fabrizio would have been gone! he had a massive gap from the start

Ben would of reeled him back in and gotten the lead again and won the race hands down!!!!

Ben ran out gas and thats that.

He kicked ass on the 2nd race!!!!

intersting comments ! everybody loves Nori and i wish him well ,but i dont want to see Ducati win yet another champioship even for Him

Ben has been awesome and i hope he wins it, as for people having a go at Matt, the man is awesome and one of the toughest hardest racers in the world (and i am English )and what he has done for AMA racing, one of my favourite racers ever because he is a hard ass, ben would not have grown to the awesome rider he is without 5 years racing matt

the rest of the world superbike paddock are lucky that Yamaha did not sign Ben and
Matt

As for comments on Tom Sykes he might be little known in the US but not in BSB, he is one of our top young talents, he has not got the experience of Spies but watch this space as the years go on and the british round, you will have camier in WSB soon another super talent watch this space

as for 2009 i cant wait for each WSB round and hope Ben destroys Ducati, it is going to be close that is for sure , 5 poles out of 5 super rookie

Your joking right!!!

Ben should consider himself very fortunate that he was not injured in any of those crashes...We know haga is going to do well at every round (there's history to prove it). How will ben do? Ben has been doing great, but also very bad..what if he doesn't get pole or has to start mid pack?? Haga will not fold.. We haven't even seen haga really race the duc yet.. Ben is doing all the damage to his title hopes on his own. All haga needs to do at this point is be consistant. Ben has been the only one to fold, and needs to worry about losing second place at the moment. The pressure is on Ben every race, not Nori!!

We have not seen the real haga on the ducati yet, when/ if the points get within the red, then the real haga will be unleashed. History shows, that haga will only get faster as the year goes on...and he is still learning the bike! that was clear when fabrizio passed him on the brakes. This is nori's year and he is not going to let it slip away-

We'll revisit this at the end of the season just to point out how wrong you are. Ben is a champion (proven year after year with the most hard ass'd challenger), Nori's a good racer (but in 10 years on great machinery has consistently failed to close the deal), you may not agree but that's the truth of the matter. That's what makes a champion vice a racer, the same is true with Mladin, Rossi, Bayliss.

:thumbup

Ben is riding the yamaha the same way nori had too (over the limit). The reason nori has never closed the deal for a title has been proven by ben in just 5 rounds. You have to ride the yzf so hard to keep it up front and that can result in crashes. Ben's crash record is going to match nori's on the yamaha and we wil be saying at the end of this season (and maybe many more) that ben would and should have won the title 'but'-The Same things we were saying about nori on the yamaha for the past 10 yrs. The fact of the matter is, ben is racing every lap on the edge and nori is making it look effortless on the duc, that is why this year is different than yrs past. A champion can come from 13th place to win a race at the world level- it's your race to lost from pole.. ben's luck will run out and he will not be on the front row, and then we will see what happens next and it won't be what we are seeing now!

Ben is a champion (proven year after year with the most hard ass'd challenger),

:thumbup

Key word being "challenger" not challenger's.. that is why he will struggle off the front row..look at round 1- race 1

I hope he proves me wrong...

i'd imagine haga is absolutely kicking himself for doing all the hard time on the older yams,
now he's jumped off the best bike just as a hot new contender has sprung up.
some people just are'nt meant to win world titles are they?
fabrizio is roundly unpopular in the pits due to his dodgy overtaking moves.
also in the interview room did anyone notice the interviewer say to him after both races " give me your views in english please " only to be given them in italian both times, what a tool!
the only reason the ducati is anywhere near is the fact they're allowed to cheat under the rules i mean 200cc's extra your having a laugh are'nt you?
incidentally why the hell is the chicane still in for the first lap?
there are bad crashes there every year, neukirchner has a broken femur to prove it.
why not just move the start line a lot closer to the first turn, let the guys go straight on for the first lap ( the original track is still there ) then put the chicane in from lap 2 when everyone is spread out, just a thought.

i'd imagine haga is absolutely kicking himself for doing all the hard time on the older yams,
now he's jumped off the best bike just as a hot new contender has sprung up.
some people just are'nt meant to win world titles are they?
fabrizio is roundly unpopular in the pits due to his dodgy overtaking moves.
also in the interview room did anyone notice the interviewer say to him after both races " give me your views in english please " only to be given them in italian both times, what a tool!
the only reason the ducati is anywhere near is the fact they're allowed to cheat under the rules i mean 200cc's extra your having a laugh are'nt you?
incidentally why the hell is the chicane still in for the first lap?
there are bad crashes there every year, neukirchner has a broken femur to prove it.
why not just move the start line a lot closer to the first turn, let the guys go straight on for the first lap ( the original track is still there ) then put the chicane in from lap 2 when everyone is spread out, just a thought.


well said that man !!! i have a soul mate here someone else that undestands that Ducati are the villans

you are so right i bet Nori(who we all Love) is gutted he has jumped on that tractor, LOL, i think Ben is the one that will get stronger , Kylami will be interesting Bayliss reckons its Ducati second best track, but i think Ben is just getting comfortable with the paddock he will be stronger by the end of the season, and dont forget the bike is new across WSB/BSB there has been 14 races so far the R1 has one 8 of them and unlucky to not win 11 of them in the Uk the engine is still standard and won 3 out of 4 races against 220bhp bikes

no trust me the Bologna boys will be already dreaming up some rule changes for 2010 all ready maybe they now need a 1400, LoL

And to think without the red flag due to the cluster F**** at the beginning, Ben would have had enough fuel!

Good f'n point my man...It def would have been close!

Good f'n point my man...It def would have been close!


:confused: . . . :no



:boobies . . . :fact

I just finished reading the 09 shootout review, and i must say that now i understand why ben ran out of fuel. that beast is a guzzler. nevertheless, ben has been pushing it so hard, which didn't help either. I am sure that yamaha team will come up with a plan for the future to how they will not run out of fuel if a similar incident hapens, which costed them not only the podium position but an overall finish of the race. and, lets face it, if ben wasnt so hard on the bike, he would never be in the top 2, and by looking at the race 1, ben had no choice but to push hard, because haga and fabrizio were right on his tail and were able to overtake him. the truth is that the duke is a better bike, but haga doesnt push his luck, he is older, he is more experienced, and he knows that if he goes down, he's chance of being in the next race might be 50/50 plus he gets no points. how old is ben?, very young. all he can think of is victory, and thats why he goes down. he is a great racer, like i said earlier, and i can only imagine if he had a duke in his arms what he would be capable of doing. let's not think that one day he wont be riding on a ducati team. i'm pretty sure that many $$$ teams have their eyes on this rookie. therefore, in order to stay on top of things, ben will have to keep pushing his luck and keep pushing the bike. but, i have a feeling that it will be more chalanging now because fabrizio seems like he will want a piece of podium as well. fabrizio is fast, and he proved it, it's just that he lacks confidence to do it race after race, what ben and haga had no issues with so far in the season. it seems like its going to be interesting to see what the rest of the season brings, and next race.

man i am full of shit. my 02. all i know is that i cant wait for the next race to see who is going to be on top.

If you race and you don't think about victory, then why race. Ben is kicking ass, it's not the bike putting him down it's the Slippirelli's he's on.

Race lap times show so far that Spies can hold his own. They're all immensely talented so that can only be good for us, the viewing audience.

With regards to where my cheering is directed... probably the fella doing wheelie stoppies on the straightaway during the Monza race, eh? heh... unbelievable!

embaresment due to Ben's bike running out of fuel.
And, speaking of out of fuel, how the heck in the world do you let that happen? i wonder if they fill it up to the top or they calculate to how much they need to run lighter.


Ben screwing around with the map.

Race lap times show so far that Spies can hold his own. They're all immensely talented so that can only be good for us, the viewing audience.

With regards to where my cheering is directed... probably the fella doing wheelie stoppies on the straightaway during the Monza race, eh? heh... unbelievable!

i am going to say that those stopies happened by a mistake. loosing his touch and squeezing just a bit too hard. you ask ben if he can do it again for you on purpose, and he'll probably say its too risky. doing stoppies at 150-180mph is crazy and he is lucky that backend didnt come forward, which would throw his ass on ground. but, thats why we love ben, because he takes those risks. and, thats why he is going to end up on top.

I believe WorldSBK has a fue limit like MotoGp. I could be wrong but this seems like the logical explanation. You can see in race two where he switches to another map when he has a significant lead...

This happened a couple of years ago to all the Honda CBR600RR's in the AMA Daytona 200 race. Seems pretty basic but sometimes mistakes happen....

Fabrizio deserved to be beaten with his owns arms for the wave, lucky for him that Ben ran out of gas. Haga got hit by several birds in race two!

Ben screwing around with the map.

the darn rookie. that explains it.

i am going to say that those stopies happened by a mistake. loosing his touch and squeezing just a bit too hard. you ask ben if he can do it again for you on purpose, and he'll probably say its too risky. doing stoppies at 150-180mph is crazy and he is lucky that backend didnt come forward, which would throw his ass on ground. but, thats why we love ben, because he takes those risks. and, thats why he is going to end up on top.

They are not mistakes nor done on purpose. It just happens. It happens all the time by a lot of riders actually, its not unusual at all. I have never seen a 'stoppie' like that go wrong with the back end coming around or anything like that. Usually, a rider will just overshoot and run off course.

I don't think Haga is upset at all on the Ducati, like some here think he might. NEVER have I seen Haga so consistent from race to race. And by now, he usually has a few crash-related DNFs (not counting the bird incident). I think if he was on the Yamaha, he might still have to override it and crash.

This is a VERY unusual year for Haga, who is one of my favorite riders.

I don't think Haga is upset at all on the Ducati, like some here think he might. NEVER have I seen Haga so consistent from race to race. And by now, he usually has a few crash-related DNFs (not counting the bird incident). I think if he was on the Yamaha, he might still have to override it and crash

This is a VERY unusual year for Haga, who is one of my favorite riders.

oh i agree that haga is not unsatisfied with duke, in fact i think that this is haga's best begining of the season in his career, i bet that he will agree with me as well. he is very happy and i think that he is going to start pushing that bike once ben comes close and towards the end of the season especially. we might see him start making mistakes or he might pull it off. we'll just have to wait and see.

:confused: . . . :no



:boobies . . . :fact

:hellobye

Hey Kmac!

Read here for more of the Ben and Haga Saga (if you haven't seen it already):
http://www.motorcycle.com/news/little-haga-and-the-ben-88250.html

The Ben!

oh i agree that haga is not unsatisfied with duke, in fact i think that this is haga's best begining of the season in his career, i bet that he will agree with me as well. he is very happy and i think that he is going to start pushing that bike once ben comes close and towards the end of the season especially. we might see him start making mistakes or he might pull it off. we'll just have to wait and see.

If history has any bearing, Haga usually gets stronger on the bike as the year goes on! I don't think we'll see him making the same mistakes from his yamaha days.

Ben Spies is good and its very fortunate for him to ride the all new Big bang R1 which was only introduce in 2009. And it did support him to the fullest, I do wonder if Mladin can beat him if Mat still on a suzuki bike.

Nori was not so lucky on his season with Yamaha because the previous R1 was not as competitive as the Ducs 1098, although it has some strong points against the ducs but, overall ducs are still far superior.

Now Yamaha is serious in taking the ducs glory, by introducing its revolutionary new 2009 Big Bang R1. and so fortunate to get Ben Spies that suits his riding Style. If you take a look at the accomplishment of Spies and the R1: 1) 5 races win, 2) Dominated the superpole, and a lot more to come I hope. when Ben got a double win in Losail Haga was so upset and disappointed, I could read his mind "what the heck why did i left yamaha."

If i want to rate whats the best bike in WSBK, I would choose the R1. no doubt about it.

I wanted to reach into the TV and smash Fabrizio for celebrating like he did in Race 1. Man, he looked like he beat Spies in some Epic battle. But he didn't. He was going to lose by several seconds. To celebrate that much over a mechanical failure, I have lost all respect for that douche.

Mat Mladin released a blog about this as well. I respect Mat a lot.
http://matmladin.blogspot.com/

+1 there it is

I don't think there are many people taking into account the talent pool of WSBK. I think Ben is not only having to push the limits of the bike to win, but also his own skill limits to stay with the leaders. I'm not a racer or even a really fast rider, but I have a Duc and an R1, and I have to say that the Duc codles me. It is much easier to rider faster on the track. Haga, so far has been able to ride more within his comfort zone than Spies. This could be seen when Spies was doing stoppies at the end of the straight to stay ahead of the Ducs. Also we have seen more restraint from Haga than we have in pass years. Before Haga would make a pass where it looked completely impossible, but this year he has shown more patience. Ben is doing a great job, not because it is his "rookie" season, but because he has won races. There are riders that have been in WSBK for quite a while and haven't won a race in years. No matter how you feel about each rider, this is probably the best season since Bayliss and Edwards went at it for the championship. :finger

Yes, Ben doesn't seem very smooth trying to keep up with those 1200cc Ducs. I wonder if it will be an even battle if Ben rides a Yamaha R12:rock

problem is mat is the biggest douch in the AMA- there's your problem!

Bingo!
Mladin is a wanker, put him on a lesser bike and see how he does...

Bingo!
Mladin is a wanker, put him on a lesser bike and see how he does...

He may be a wanker, but he can drive a bike for sure!!!! He is a talented racer! I don't think it is all about the bike.

He may be a wanker, but he can drive a bike for sure!!!! He is a talented racer! I don't think it is all about the bike.

+1 given enough set up time, Mladin could win on a yamaha, honda, or a duc.

2 things

1, this thread is actually funny now "fabrizio waving good bye to ben, (not)

2, as for people slagging off Matt that is outragous you need shooting,how can you possibly even say that a man of that Level (or perpaps you dont like an Aussie dominating a US series ) the guy is awesome and one mean racer you got a respect him even if you dont like his personna, and calling him a wanker you need to be stung up

Just remember Ben is the racer he is to day because of how hard he has had to fight Mladin for the win

2 things

1, this thread is actually funny now "fabrizio waving good bye to ben, (not)

2, as for people slagging off Matt that is outragous you need shooting,how can you possibly even say that a man of that Level (or perpaps you dont like an Aussie dominating a US series ) the guy is awesome and one mean racer you got a respect him even if you dont like his personna, and calling him a wanker you need to be stung up

Just remember Ben is the racer he is to day because of how hard he has had to fight Mladin for the win


+1

I personally like the guy. He's a great competitor with mad skillz.
But he also has a good personality. Not as great as Rossi, but none-the-less, I see myself agreeing with him on different subjects.

Just read his blog and see who he really is...
Mladin's Blog (http://matmladin.blogspot.com/)

Post Bruno... Looks like things may tighten-up a little... Haga, 326 to Spies, 319.

Spies would be leading if not for that lil Italiano pancake action from Fabrizio.

http://www.worldsbk.com/season/standings?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2009&p_PilotiCostruttori=P

I have mixed emotions. Really want to see Haga have the championship he rightly has deserved ( Yes... I realize the only one who deserves it is the one who wins it, but just the same... Maybe I'm sentimental to the ex-yam pilot)

....on the other hand there's nothing I'd like to see more than the rookie American show the Stars and Stripes at the end.

Mladin: Why doesn't he come out with the big boys ? ...cause he chicken shite is why!

Back to the thread: The only waving going on here is Bennie's bye-byes to Fabrizio.

It is unfortunate Fabrizio too Ben down in race 1. No doubt he would have takenthe lead in the Championship. Haga is a great rider and I would like to see him win a championship, however it isn't going to happen this year I'm sure of that. I can say he is a bad a$$ and is riding hard hurt. You definantly have to respect a guy/competitor like that. He could have just eases it in this past weekend but instead rode hard and actually moved up 2-3 places from start instead of falling back. In Fabrizio's defense I think he just has a silly/weird since of humor and at least after the crash had the gawl(sp) to apologize and make an effort even though it was too late. The I love Ben was hilarous I though too.

i havent seen a race in the past, almost a month... i hope ill be able to catch up...