Jerez WSBK Test
Discussion
bergclimber34 said:
Rea has said he almost retired in 24, I think maybe he should have
I think so yes, the emergence of Toprak, the return of Bautista to Ducati, Iannone arriving, Kawasaki making good progress last year with Lowes, the arrival of a very fast Bulega plus almost everyone else upping their game to try and catch Bulega, Baustista and Toprak have kind of left him behind and for the sake of his legacy, he probably should walk away.Sykes had the right idea to an extent but ruined it by coming back to BSB and being absolutely nowhere
I do think that everyone else has caught him up though, his days of dominance are over sadly and even 2023 on the Kawasaki he was an also ran to an extent.
Has he lost his ability? No of course not, he could be on a CB500 and me on his R1 and he'd still lap me multiple times round Donington say but i do think the bar has been raised significantly and its a level above where his dominant years used to be. It happens to everyone, look at Bautista, 2 years on the bounce he was head and shoulders above everyone and not even Toprak looked like defeating him, then Toprak goes to BMW and to an extent, nobody saw which way he went, other than Bulega.
And that's the thing for me, even the rookies are at an incredible level now which is fantastic for the sport.
I hope Rea proves me wrong this year and has a stellar year.
Has he lost his ability? No of course not, he could be on a CB500 and me on his R1 and he'd still lap me multiple times round Donington say but i do think the bar has been raised significantly and its a level above where his dominant years used to be. It happens to everyone, look at Bautista, 2 years on the bounce he was head and shoulders above everyone and not even Toprak looked like defeating him, then Toprak goes to BMW and to an extent, nobody saw which way he went, other than Bulega.
And that's the thing for me, even the rookies are at an incredible level now which is fantastic for the sport.
I hope Rea proves me wrong this year and has a stellar year.
2023 Kawasaki was less competitive relative to the rest of the bikes than the 2024 though. They were able to get alot more out of the engine last year. Look how well Lowes went.
That's my point. If Rea had stayed at Kawasaki he would have had a more competitive bike, kept his great partnership with Pere Riba (instead of Lowes getting him as his race engineer), and had a much better year. No one would be saying he should retire.
That's my point. If Rea had stayed at Kawasaki he would have had a more competitive bike, kept his great partnership with Pere Riba (instead of Lowes getting him as his race engineer), and had a much better year. No one would be saying he should retire.
I've said for the last two years that Toprak is head and shoulders above everyone else in WSBK, this year on the unfancied BMW proved that and yes, if he went to Ducati i wouldn't mind betting he would win every race.
As for Rea and Yamaha, Denning has admitted that they need to find top speed and acceleration to get the R1 competitive and i hope they do and Rea has a stellar year.
As for Rea and Yamaha, Denning has admitted that they need to find top speed and acceleration to get the R1 competitive and i hope they do and Rea has a stellar year.
|I would imagine what has happened really is that Toprak achieving as much as he did on the Yamaha and Locatelli doing OK has masked the issues, now they are more apparent, although Locatelli had a decent season. I do think Rea was way off it though for whatever reason, no way should he be getting beat by Aegerter Gardner or Locatelli.
Aaand just to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Eurosport will cease to exist before the new season kicks off.
If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
slopes said:
Aaand just to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Eurosport will cease to exist before the new season kicks off.
If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Isn't TNT included in some package or another already though? I've ended up with it somehow and haven't knowingly paid any more.If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Plus TNT will also give you MotoGP.
srob said:
slopes said:
Aaand just to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Eurosport will cease to exist before the new season kicks off.
If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Isn't TNT included in some package or another already though? I've ended up with it somehow and haven't knowingly paid any more.If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Plus TNT will also give you MotoGP.
slopes said:
srob said:
slopes said:
Aaand just to make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Eurosport will cease to exist before the new season kicks off.
If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Isn't TNT included in some package or another already though? I've ended up with it somehow and haven't knowingly paid any more.If you want to watch BSB or WSBK from now on, you will need TNT Sports subscription at £31 a month to be able to watch both series.
So that is my Sky subscription gone then.
Robbing charlatans
Plus TNT will also give you MotoGP.
Everyone else went quicker, he has not set the world alight a tiny bit in the past few years, Toprak made him look very average last year and the years before on the BMW a bit like Laverty he is hanging on I think.
On a good bike, but the team matters just as much these days, no idea what they are like
On a good bike, but the team matters just as much these days, no idea what they are like
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