Toseland to WSB, Spies to GP

[jwm2k3]

WOAH

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...s-motogp-ride/

[scottieducati]

Wow, bombshell. I don't feel bad for J.T. at all, especially after his back-stabbing moves to swipe CEIII's crew chief out from under him.

[RyanNicholson]

didn't see that one coming.... interesting. Kinda cool seeing an all american gp team though.

[BMFR6]

kind of figured as much, but didn't expect it until at least after next wsbk round. apparently yamaha is real confident they will put enough gas in ben's bike and he's done dnf'ing for the year. can't wait to see him in gp.

[scottieducati]

While I'm sure he'd love to win the WSBK crown, MotoGP has always been the goal for Spies... so this wasn't really that surprising. I'm still routing for Haga though, mostly because he's been SO CLOSE in the past... I'd love to see him knock it out and retire as champ.

[jwm2k3]

While I'm sure he'd love to win the WSBK crown

Im betting he WILL win the WSB title this year, then MAYBE win GP next year!! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

[hawk]

While I'm sure he'd love to win the WSBK crown, MotoGP has always been the goal for Spies... so this wasn't really that surprising. I'm still routing for Haga though, mostly because he's been SO CLOSE in the past... I'd love to see him knock it out and retire as champ.

I agree, I would like to see Haga win.

I figured this would happen, but not till Spies won the championship. I know in my mind I wouldn't want to go to GP without that title. How nice would it be to have the AMA, WSB and moto GP world champ trophies sid by side.

[Eddie]

Not as surprise to me....everybody knew that Toseland's seat was up for grabs and that Spies was looking for a MotoGp ride with Yamaha. Should be interesting what Spies can do on MotoGP

[BMFR6]

While I'm sure he'd love to win the WSBK crown, MotoGP has always been the goal for Spies... so this wasn't really that surprising. I'm still routing for Haga though, mostly because he's been SO CLOSE in the past... I'd love to see him knock it out and retire as champ.

Yeah i agree with you about Spies. I'm not sure yamaha would have given anyone else this "career path" but I'm sure Ben has been approached by a number of GP teams and has the bargaining power to get his way. as far as Haga.... I'm torn. my loyalty lies with yamaha, but I've always liked Haga.

Im betting he WILL win the WSB title this year, then MAYBE win GP next year!! THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

pretty lofty goal considering the company he will be in.

[Eddie]

Yeah i agree with you about Spies. I'm not sure yamaha would have given anyone else this "career path" but I'm sure Ben has been approached by a number of GP teams and has the bargaining power to get his way. as far as Haga.... I'm torn. my loyalty lies with yamaha, but I've always liked Haga.


pretty lofty goal considering the company he will be in.

+1...WSBK?...Maybe...MotoGP rookie of the year? Perhaps. MotoGP champion in 2010? No way

[DesmoTull]

I can't wait to see how Spies does in the top class.

[CMG241]

Awesome news!! (especially for Haga..)

[KawiSmurf]

This is exactly what Spies wanted and needs, to be showcased at the pinnacle of two-wheeled motorsports. Everyone knew WSBK was just a stepping stone for him going into this season anyway, and Yamaha has seen fit to invest a lot of effort into future championships with him (once the Italians leave the FIAT paddock).

That being said, Ben Spies will not win the GP title next year (though he has a legitimate shot at winning at least a race or three, having now seen these tracks). I honestly think Hayden has a better chance at the championship, when he will show drastic improvement on the Ducati in the first few races of next season. I can't say for sure who will win it all...but I know it won't be one of the Texans.

As for World Superbike, I think Nori Haga has somewhat become the "Mark Martin" of WSBK...in other words, he's a sentimental favorite that everyone would love to see finally win a championship. I'll count myself among that crowd.

[BMFR6]

That being said, Ben Spies will not win the GP title next year (though he has a legitimate shot at winning at least a race or three, having now seen these tracks). I honestly think Hayden has a better chance at the championship, when he will show drastic improvement on the Ducati in the first few races of next season. I can't say for sure who will win it all...but I know it won't be one of the Texans.

Hayden isn't winning another championship in GP until they start passing out unicorns as trophies. Sorry. He's good and I like the guy a lot, but unfortunately he is not even close to the talent of the top 4. i think Spies will be faster than Hayden and I think he should be pretty happy if he gets with in spitting distance.

[KawiSmurf]

He's good and I like the guy a lot, but unfortunately he is not even close to the talent of the top 4.

Well as far as the "Top 4," "Fantastic Four," "Four Kings," whatever they're being called now, only one is considered 'untouchable,' until he retires or shows his age. But lets remember Nicky out-raced that very same rider to win his first championship three years ago. No reason he can't do it again.

Stoner has shown a major fault this season, and he may never fully recover to a state where he is 100% mentally in the race. Pedrosa is stupid fast (he could probably sweep the Moto2 series), but is accident/mistake prone, and lets his emotions get the better of him. As for Lorenzo, who seems to have a great combo of Pedrosa's speed/agility and Rossi's precision, he also has a tendency to get "too excited" when he needs to calm down and focus...you can almost hear his heart beating faster than his engine when he makes a pass. He's got what it takes to win, but when he crashes, you know its because he was trying too hard to make something out of nothing.

I won't put Hayden on pedestal above these guys, but there's no reason he shouldn't be considered in the same class as them. He's definitely not one of the fastest guys, but we all know it takes more than outright speed to win these races (in fact, he seems to ride with the opposite of Rossi's 'surgical,' almost robotic, technique). And you can't deny that his technique on the Duc is getting better and better. Of all the racers in MotoGP, I truly, honestly think he wants the trophy the most.

i think Spies will be faster than Hayden and I think he should be pretty happy if he gets with in spitting distance.

Not buying it...yet. Wait til next season when you can show me the two of them on the same GP grid, and if Spies pulls away, I'll believe it. But not until then.

[IsleofManTT]

At that level, it is often a question of confidence. Confidence in the bike, confidence in yourself vs the best. The first obviously has a lot to do with the second, but not all.

Bikes are not equal. Each year someone seems to have it figured out better than the others. I seem to remember Hayden had a large advantage over Rossi the year he won vs the Yamaha. The Ducati was stupid fast on Stoner's first win (although he was the one to be able to ride it)

Of more interest to me is the confidence of each rider. I'd say Hayden's has dropped given his results and I'd say he has a long way to go before he feels he can compete with Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

I'd expect Spies to come in quite confident. Time will tell how that plays out given his ride and tougher competition head to toe.

[BMFR6]

Stoner has shown a major fault this season, and he may never fully recover to a state where he is 100% mentally in the race. Pedrosa is stupid fast (he could probably sweep the Moto2 series), but is accident/mistake prone, and lets his emotions get the better of him. As for Lorenzo, who seems to have a great combo of Pedrosa's speed/agility and Rossi's precision, he also has a tendency to get "too excited" when he needs to calm down and focus...you can almost hear his heart beating faster than his engine when he makes a pass. He's got what it takes to win, but when he crashes, you know its because he was trying too hard to make something out of nothing.

I won't put Hayden on pedestal above these guys, but there's no reason he shouldn't be considered in the same class as them. He's definitely not one of the fastest guys, but we all know it takes more than outright speed to win these races (in fact, he seems to ride with the opposite of Rossi's 'surgical,' almost robotic, technique). And you can't deny that his technique on the Duc is getting better and better. Of all the racers in MotoGP, I truly, honestly think he wants the trophy the most.

See but my point, based on your theory, hayden is only at the same level of those guys as long as they are sick or crashing. You can't go into a championship hoping to win because other people crash. I think you are wrong that it does not depend on outright speed right now. When Hayden won, Rossi was the toughest competition, the fastest guy so to speak. Right now, if Rossi is off, Hayden still has to beat Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Consitiency may be key to the championship, but in this day and age you have to be consistently fast.

(and I specifically didn't metion Stoner because we don't know what his return will be like)

[KawiSmurf]

hayden is only at the same level of those guys as long as they are sick or crashing. You can't go into a championship hoping to win because other people crash.

Right now, if Rossi is off, Hayden still has to beat Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

Consitiency may be key to the championship, but in this day and age you have to be consistently fast.

Hmm. All valid points, although I'm not totally sold on the "fast" bit (I'm 50/50 there). Gives me something to ponder. Honestly, I'm trying to detach myself from the patriotic side of me that thinks Hayden will win everytime out...that killed me in the first half of the MotoGP Fantasy season. Realistically, I know he won't...I'm hoping, more than anything at this point.

[BMFR6]

yeah, the patriotic thing is understandable. i always root for the americans, but at the end of the day, fast is fast and there is a lot of fast in front of nicky right now. i guess my thoughts on ben being faster, he's going to be on the "better suited" bike, he will have a huge amount of data available (even JT has gone on record stating he has access to all of jorge and rossi's data) and you know edwards is going to "take him under his wing" so to speak. Yamaha is going to give him everything they can because there is no 2011 contracts in place for the top 2 and anything can happen.

[Doc]

Do you really think Spies is just gonna throw away the WSB title and not race?

[BMFR6]

Do you really think Spies is just gonna throw away the WSB title and not race?

huh? who said that? IMO I think he is going to crush it.

[CMG241]

Do you really think Spies is just gonna throw away the WSB title and not race?

what I got from the article is that he is jumping within the next 2 races to Moto GP and there are 3 WSB races left. I just compared schedules and they both race Oct 4 so no chance of a superman running both. Toseland's already gone too

[BMFR6]

what I got from the article is that he is jumping within the next 2 races to Moto GP and there are 3 WSB races left. I just compared schedules and they both race Oct 4 so no chance of a superman running both. Toseland's already gone too

eh. i'm not buying that yet. i'm sure yamaha isn't just going to give the crown away. if he was perfect, and haga had some big issues, then ben could get the champinship in the next two weekends but i think this is going to the wire. 18 points is nothing in wsbk.

[CMG241]

cant disagree with that

[Paul_E_D]

Nope, I believe you misread that. No one is changing series until next season.