Ducati's Other Runner

Well, Ducati may be struggling to catch up to the leaders in MotoGP, but not so in World SBK. Last year's champion, Carlos Checa on the Althea Racing Ducati is back at it again, topping the results on the last day of testing at Phillip Island with a time of 1'31.8", with Tom Sykes close behind at 1'31.9" on a factory Kawasaki. That's still a second behind Checa's fastest ever lap last year. There are eight riders within the first second, with six bikes clumped between 1'32" and 1'36". Looks like there could be some close racing in the lead groups at next week's Phillip Island season opener.

So things are looking a little better for Ducati in this series ... oh wait ... did I mention there are no Hondas or Yamahas in WSBK? I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

Eugene Laverty managed to crash on the last day of testing ... tank slapper coming out of turn one, which bumped his front brake pistons back into the calipers ... and ... yes, "I have no brakes!" going into turn one. He ran off track and landed hard on his hands and head, suffering a broken bone in his left hand and a sprained finger in his right. The report is that there's no significant head trauma ... but we'll see if he's drooling and staring vacantly into space on his 45th birthday. Anyway, he's expected to be fit enough to race next week. I hope the clutch is a light pull on the Aprilia.

Results
1. Carlos Checa (Ducati) 1'31.8"
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'31.9"
3. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1'32.2"
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'32.3"
5. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'32.4"
6. Jakub Smrz (Ducati) 1'32.4"
7. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 1'32.5"
8. Michel Fabrizio (BMW) 1'32.6"
9. Maxime Berger (Ducati) 1'32.9"
10. Leon Camier (Suzuki) 1'33.1"
11. Marco Melandri (BMW) 1'33.0"
12. David Giugliano (Ducati) 1'33.5"
13. Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) 1'33.5"
14. Ayrton Badovini (BMW) 1'33.6"
15. David Johnson (BMW) 1'34.1"
16. Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 1'34.5"
17. Lorenzo Zanetti (Ducati) 1'34.7"
18. David Salom (Kawasaki) 1'34.9"
19. John Hopkins (Suzuki) DNS

Don't Do That Last Practice Lap

It was a Monday, but it was the 13th. On his last lap on day one of Phillip Island testing, John Hopkins high-sided before braking for turn two. It had been a damp day, but Hopper blames the crash on a used tyre and too much entry speed. He came down on his right hand, fracturing a bone at the base of his missing fourth digit. He's back in California now and will most likely miss the SBK opener downunder next week. Poor hippity Hopper ... guy just can't catch a break.

Nicky Hayden Goes Under The Knife

After being unable to complete testing at Sepang this past week, Nicky Hayden has gone back to California to have his shoulder injury reviewed. Initial tests have shown that there's damaged cartilage in his left shoulder plus some muscle damage in his back. This is more serious than previously thought. Tomorrow he'll undergo surgery for further evaluation and whatever repairs are necessary. It's not known if this will seriously impact his start to the season. There appears to be enough time to recover to some degree, but with injuries of this kind, you never really know.

So What's The GP12 Really Look Like?

Here it is, full aluminum frame and all. It's a shame they had to drop their innovative frameless design, but if it was holding them back and the writing was on on the wall in large block letters, then go with the obvious. Anyway, Ducati is now back in the race. Carry on gentlemen.

The Ducati GP12 Is Rideable

In spite of Valentino Rossi's lukewarm results at Sepang, he still seems to be very happy with the bike. Basically, it's still got some issues with acceleration and electronics, but the basics are there. According to Vale, "The riding position has improved a lot, and it’s better on braking and corner entry. I can brake like I want to and take the lines that I like, and I feel comfortable in general. I was able to ride well and not make mistakes, and there’s a reason for that. It means that the bike can be ridden. It’s more agile in change of direction, and it wheelies much less".

If he's happy and he views the remaining problems as just technicalities to be worked out, then it's possible he'll put in some good results at his favourite tracks like Mugello. Not to say the he'll be able to catch Stoner, but it appears he'll be visible in the background putting in some decent laps.

Three Weeks 'Til Phillip Island!

The 2012 World SuperBike season is almost here, with the Phillip Island opener on February 26th. Melandri joins the herd amid high expectations on a BMW and Nine-Finger Hopper is looking forward to playing with the big boys again after missing out on the British SuperBike championship by only 2 points last year. Hope the weather's good this year on the south coast of Australia. You never know what you're going to get ... if it's not raining, the wind can sometimes be a big factor. Here's hoping for a calm sunny day where everyone can show their stuff. I love watching racing at Phillip Island on TV (or the computer these days) ... but I'd rather be there in person.

Not Too Bad Vale

The first Test of 2012 has now been completed at Sepang. No big surprises: Stoner way ahead, followed not that closely by Lorenzo and Pedrosa, implying a similar finish in 2012 to last season. Stoner riding under bike number 1 instead of 27 (if you've got it, flaunt it?) was by far the fastest rider on day 3 ... setting a new Sepang lap record for fastest ever race lap, fastest ever pole lap and fastest ever recorded lap on two wheels (1:59.607).

There were several interesting results on day 2 ... like Spies being only 0.157 off Stoner's pace and Hector Barbera finishing ahead of Valentino Rossi on the Pramac Ducati. Speaking of Rossi ... how's Ducati doing you ask? Well, not too bad really, but definately not Championship material quite yet. Vale finished 5th behind Spies, 1.2 off the pace ... well Stoner's record-breaking pace that is. Last year was worse, and this implies Rossi might get a look a podium or two depending on the venue, but that's just not good enough Ducati. Now that the chassis is sorted, time to fine tune the rest of the package.

Speaking of Yamaha ... how's Dovi doing on the Tech3? Well, he's looking good ... but unfortuantely not as good as he did last year on the Honda. I expect the podium runners will be pretty predicatable this year Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, with possibly a close finish to the championship. It could come down to attrition ... whoever can stay on the bike and not suffer any "training injuries" has the best shot. It will be interesting to see if the various track layouts can boost some of the second tier pilots onto the podium.

The wildcard factor is that there will be lots more lappers to contend with in the form of the CRT teams ... that is, a second class of bikes on the track, that might have a hard time getting a podium in a SuperBike race (depending on the rider). If the second tier "real MotoGP bikes" don't get spread out too much, the interesting racing could be for 4th, 5th and 6th this year.