Steve Sizemore's Weblog

From my last round of del.icio.us links you can see that I've been following the recent announcements for the 2006 season of World Superbike and Moto GP. Here's a quick run down of what I know so far.

As rumored, Chris Vermeulen will be moving from World Superbike to MotoGP. The shocking part is that he's going to do it on a Suzuki instead of a Honda. Chris finished second this year in the World Superbike Championship on a Ten Kate prepared Honda 1000RR. He has been on the injured Troy Bayliss' Honda for the last few races.

Ben Bostrom is also leaving Honda next year. In 2005 Ben raced a Honda 1000RR in world superbike. Next year, Ben will move back to AMA Superbike racing on the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin team. His teammate will be world champion Neil Hodgson.

James Toseland will take the place on Winston Ten Kate Honda team vacated by Chris Vermeulen. James was the 2004 World Superbike Champion on the Factory Ducati team.

Eric Bostrom may be on the new Yahama R1 for 2006. I don't have a lot of news on this one. Ben did great on his Ducati F05 this year.

Posted by Steve at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Set your Tivo's, it's just 2 more weeks until the start of the World Superbike Championship airs on speed TV.

The first race from Qatar airs March 1st.

Posted by Steve at 04:27 PM | Permalink

I feel bad about saying this, but I'm kinda over football until next fall. I start to get a little bored with it in early December, and usually skip out on the post season.

Right now I'm really looking forward to watching my new favorite sport: Superbike Racing. From all the pre-season news, it looks like Honda is going to have an awesome 'team' this year in both AMA and World Superbike:

In World Superbike (mostly in Europe):

-Pier-Francesco Chili from Italy (one of my favorite riders) is switching from the Ducati 998 to the Honda 1000RR. Chili had a lot of ups and downs last year. At one time Chili was leading the championship, but finished 5th due to machanical problems and crashes.

-Ben Bostrom from the US, who rode 1000RR in AMA, is switching to the Renegade Honda team in World Superbike. It will be nice to have an American on the World Superbike Circuit again.

-Chris Vermeulen from Australia will have his second World Superbike start on the 1000RR. Last year he finished 4th in the championship, just above Chili.

-Karl Muggeridge will graduate from the Honda 600RR to the 1000R and join teammate and fellow Assie Chris Vermeulen on the Ten Kate Honda Team. Last year Karl won the World Supersport Championship on the Honda 600RR.

That's four great riders on all on Honda this year. Last year, Chris Vermeulen was the only one.

In AMA (United States):

Jake Zemke and Miguel Duhamel will continue to ride the 1000RR for the Honda factory team. Last year Jake Zemke was Jake's rookie year in Superbike. He finished 3rd in the chamionship on the Erion Honda team. Since Bostrom went to World Superbike in Europe, Jake will take his place on the Honda factory team. Miguel Duhamel finished 2nd last year. He has won more races than anyone in superbike history.

Last year was the first year for Honda 1000RR, I'm hoping this year will be ever better as the Honda Racing teams continue to refine and develop this new bike.

Can't want until the first race in Feburary.

Posted by Steve at 10:20 AM | Permalink

Ride Red
more

Posted by Steve at 02:08 PM | Permalink

I found this article while searching for the history of the 919.

It shows Honda's line of inline 4 cylinder superbikes from the 1969 CB750 to the CBR1000RR.

1969 CB750 K0

1981 CB900F

1994 CB1000

2002 919

I grew up on Honda dirt bikes. My dad had several Honda street bikes. So when I saw the 2002 Honda 919, I had to have it. I've had it for almost 2 years now, and I really enjoy it. I really like the barebones cafe styling, and the 919cc engine has power to spare. I bought the bike because it looked cool, I had no idea that the CB900R has such a rich history as a cafe racer. Realizing that makes me appreciate it more.

Posted by Steve at 06:57 PM | Permalink

Pier-Francesco Chili is expected to appear to test ride a Ten Kate Honda, and team boss of the Klaffi team, Klaus Klaffenbock, was waiting news on whether or not he would have sufficient sponsorship to run a two-man Honda team. Honda sources suggest he is out anyway, but he claims to have until early December to decide – sponsorship allowing.

Rumours from Italy suggest that Ben Bostrom and Chili will form the much vaunted, but frequently denied, Gresini Honda dream team, with support from Honda Italy.

Read More

Posted by Steve at 09:48 AM | Permalink

I just found out the Chili will not be riding with the PSG-1 team in 2005. In fact Chili is currently unsigned.

Rumor has it that Chili wants to ride a Honda Fireblade in '05. I'm a big fan of the Fireblade, and Chili. I hope we are able to see him next year.

Posted by Steve at 05:56 PM | Permalink

Top level Superbike machinery from no less than six different manufacturers were present at the first official Pirelli tire tests of the off-season, scheduled to take place over three days, from 16 to 18 November.

Ducati, Petronas, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha were all in attendance.

Karl Muggeridge and team-mate Chris Vermeulen represented Ten Kate Honda on the 1000RR.

The PSG-1 team has made a swap to Kawasaki power for 2005, and ran their new two-man riding line up of Chris Walker and Mauro Sanchini on their ZX-10 machines. I'm not sure if Chili will ride on the PSG-1 team not not. More to follow on this for sure.

Keep Reading

Posted by Steve at 06:14 AM | Permalink

The 2004 World Superbike Season ended on Oct 2nd. Through the miracle of TiVo, I watched the last race on Friday Sadly, Chris Vermeulen was unable to complete both races because of electrical problems on this Honda 1000 RR. This is really disappointing because the Vermeulen 's new 1000 RR has been solid all year long. At the beginning of the weekend, Chris was in 3rd place over all with a shot of winning the championship, but after 2 DNF's he finished 4th over all.

Though disappointing, this is still an awesome finish. This is Vermeulen's first year in World Superbike. This time last year, Chris won the 2003 World Supersport (600 cc) Championship. I'm looking forward to the 2005 season. In '05 Chris Vermeulen will be joined by Karl Muggeridge his former team mate from Supersport. Muggeridge is the 2004 World Supersport Champ. Ten Kate's supersport team is going to be awesome next year.

Posted by Steve at 01:30 PM | Permalink

As the hurricane started to hit Jacksonville, I stayed inside and watched some of the best racing yet. Both series are coming to a close. After the races last weekend, AMA has only 2 races left, World Superbike has 4.

Of the two series, I must say that World Superbike is my personal fav. The competition is really close, and any of the top 5 riders can win it. Watching the two series back to back like I did on Saturday, really reinforced that.

As close as World Superbike is, it will be interesting to see who the final top three will be. I'm pulling for Vermeulen on the Honda 1000RR, and Chili on the Ducati 998 RS. I'm a Honda fan, but Chili style and antics are just fun to watch. I expect see his Bologna based team switch from Ducati to Kawasaki for the '05 season. Chili, and most other seasoned Ducati riders have had problems adapting to the new 999 RS. Chili has been very vocal about this, and had even go ne back to riding his old 998.

I love the Honda, but lately Kawasaki has really been catching my eye with the new ZX-10R. I'm looking forward to Chili's change to Kawasaki. I'm hoping Chili will get the support he needs from Kawasaki and the both develop the ZX-10R together. This could only be a good thing for Chili, Kawasaki and the World Superbike Championship.

Posted by Steve at 12:39 PM | Permalink

Last round it was all about Duhammel. After so many close finishes, Jake Zemke scores his first AMA Superbike win at Brainerd, MN.

Highlights
Zemke snatches pole from Mladin and DuHamel.
Zemke wins in Brainerd

Standings after 11/18 Rounds
M. Mladin 358
M. Duhamel 352
J. Zemke 348

Posted by Steve at 10:35 AM | Permalink

Silverstone was a showcase the best motorcycle racing I have ever seen. Both races were awesome!

Chris Vermeulen on the Honda Fireblade held off Noriyuki Haga for his first World Superbike win. This is also a big victory of Honda, they haven't been able to beat Ducati in years.

Race 2 at Silverstone was the 400th race in FIM World Superbike History.

Posted by Steve at 09:27 PM | Permalink

After three wins in ELKHART LAKE, Wis Duhamel now has 75 AMA victories. 30 are in Superbike. That makes Duhamel the all time 'winningest' rider in Superbike, and AMA.

It's also of note to mention that Duhamel is on the Honda Fireblade 1000RR. (ride red)

Posted by Steve at 07:20 AM | Permalink

Continue reading "Oschersleben Results" »

Posted by Steve at 09:01 AM | Permalink

"Unfortunately a fault was found in the engine concerning the cut off sensor which is used for rider safety in the event of the bike falling (once the bike is laid down the engine must cut of automatically within two seconds). The team tested the relevant engine part at the beginning of the season, when the bike was taken for testing after race two it was found to be faulty. For this reason Chris was disqualified costing him valuable championship points.

Chris is now 5th in the ranking of the World Championship with 83 points and Laconi is leading with 120 points."

More Info at WorldSBK.com

I was already pretty bummed out that Pierfrancesco Chili blew two engines in race 1, and then wrecked in race two. This was the most disappointed World SuperBike race I've ever watched. It's like an Italian opera.

"Before the desperate disappointment of a double DNF at the previous Monza round, Ducati privateer Pierfrancesco Chili led the world on his 998R-based Ducati machine. Even after two no scores at Monza, he still sits in third place overall, safe in the knowledge that he had an outstanding second place in race one last year. Looking for payback from lady luck, Chili approaches his 40th birthday in June with as much speed and aggression as riders half his age, ensuring his continued popularity to a global audience." - WorldSBK

I'm looking forward to the races at Oschersleben next week.

More News from Monza

chrisvermeulen.com

Posted by Steve at 07:17 AM | Permalink

Posted by Steve at 05:15 PM | Permalink

I just discovered Superbike World Championship racing today, and I must admit, I'm completely hooked. I find that I like it much more the AMA superbike.

One reason is the riders. I find the riders to be much more entertaining to listen to both before and after the race than their American counterparts. With the new rule to use a standard (control) tire from Pirelli the riders are more evenly matched.

Another reason is the bikes. AMA racing is dominated by Honda, Suzuki, and Yahama, with only one Ducati. The reverse is true with FIM. In World Superbike, the field is full of Ducati 999's and 998's, with only one Honda. I enjoy watching Chris Vermeulen on his new Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade move up the field against all the Ducati's.

I'm looking forward to the next match on 4/18/2004 in Misano Adriatico. The top four riders are very close in points. It looks to be an interesting season. I'm interested in Chris Vermeulen on the Honda Fireblade, and Pierfrancesco Chili on the Ducati 998. Pierfrancesco Chili decided to quit racing the Ducati 999 and go back to his more familiar Ducati 998. This proved to be a smart move in race 2-2 at Phillip Island. He placed second in that race.

If you haven't seen a Superbike Race, you should check out both AMA and FIM Superbike Championships. You won't regret it.

Here's the upcomming races on the SPEED channel

Posted by Steve at 08:12 PM | Permalink