Round 2 of the WSB championship this weekend saw more Kawasaki domination. In Race 1, Jonathan Rea won his third straight ahead of Kawasaki teammate Tom Sykes. Honda-mounted Michael Van Der Mark finished third.
Sunday’s Race 2 again saw Kawasaki take the top two steps on the podium, but this time it was Sykes winning a close one over Rea with Ducati’s Chaz Davies finishing third.
Here are links to complete race results:
bloody brilliant race 2 from Tom. held his lines tight, kept the door closed, and “brickwalled” Rea everywhere like he had a reverse cam fitted in the dash. that was a CLINIC on how you defend from the front.
Well looks like Hayden is running better than I expected. Good for Nicky. Actally his fastest trap speed in the second race was faster that of the winning Kawasaki and about equal to Van der Marks. Maybe the Honda is not such a dog after all.
Maybe it still is, since trap speed is not the ultimate measure of effectiveness, and no Honda has won a WSB race in forever and a day.
On the other hand, with the Yamahas being all new, Aprilia having traded WSB for MotoGP, and Suzuki and BMW having thrown in the towel, it does look like the Hondas will be the Best of the Rest, after the Kawis and Ducatis.
Ummm…yay?
so you’re saying Hayden and Van der Mark are over riding them to beat the dozen or so other guys competing in that class on other brand bikes?
I’ve only watched part of the PI race, but actually it looked like the Hondas were running pretty well. The Kawi’s and Duc’s certainly weren’t running away from them.
Again…
“…with the Yamahas being all new, Aprilia having traded WSB for MotoGP, and Suzuki and BMW having thrown in the towel, it does look like the Hondas will be the Best of the Rest, after the Kawis and Ducatis.”
Kawi is the only full factory team. In terms that a MotoGP fan would understand, Ducati might be equated to a satellite squad. All the rest, including Honda, are at a different, much lower level.
As for whether the Kawis are running away, well, unless you’re Mat Mladin, winning at the slowest speed possible is usually the best recipe for sustained success. The Kawis win every race, and have done so for two years. Does the margin of victory really matter?
I don’t know where Honda found the extra power, but the bikes definitely have more top speed this year than last. It still isn’t enough, but Van der Mark makes the Honda look like a contender. That guy is going to be a force to be reckoned with if Honda gets serious in WSBK.
3 podiums in 4 races isn’t bad.
The Honda design is old but for this year Honda has made improvements to it so it’s more competitive than in the past few years. Also next year a new faster Honda 1000 model is supposed to come out for real.
Is it just me or do these guys look like they’re trying to win a “who can crap in their leathers the hardest” contest?
Rea may have done just that due to Sykes about taking his front end out a couple times…
Did anyone count how many times they passed each other in the last 2 laps of race 2? The wife & I were pins & needles. 8^ 0