On Track Off Road No.184

FEATURE
in 2009, you need an alpha.
You need a leader. It’s up to
the Yamaha riders to find that
pecking order as quickly as
possible. Making that even
more complicated is that
Crescent Racing are the established
Yamaha squad and
the designated reference
team, and they have to contend
with GRT Racing. GRT
are making the step up from
the Supersport class and are
keen to show their potential.
They will want to be the top
Yamaha squad just as much
as their riders want to assert
themselves.
With the teams able to share
data it will be interesting to
see how that pooling process
operates. Will Alberto Columbo,
Chaz Davies’ old crew
chief, be able to filter the info
and improve the package? It
certainly looked that way during
testing.
The R1 was fast and consistent.
Lowes was the standout
but van der Mark has never
been a rider that has been
known for his testing performances.
He’s a racer and
when the Superpole session
begins in Australia he’ll be
right there. Lowes on the
other hand has been spending
the winter changing his riding
style and no athlete was busier
at the January tests than
the Englishman. It was a close
run fight between Rea and
Lowes to be the most impres-
sive rider during those tests.
Can the 2013 BSB champion
make the step up in 2019 that
many have been waiting for?
He’s now a race winner and
has the belief that he can win
more.
Van der Mark knows that he
can beat Rea in a straight up
fight. The Dutchman fractured
his scaphoid - the same injury
that ruled Jorge Lorenzo out
of MotoGP testing - in Qatar
last year but Van der Mark is
now almost back to full fitness.
It’s just in time for the
start of the campaign and he’s
going to be a contender once
again.
Melandri and Cortese are
the wildcards. The Italian is
always a potential race winner
and if he readapts to the
Yamaha he’ll be a force to
be reckoned with. He did the
double ‘down under’ last year
and he’ll be out to start his
season with podiums again.
Melandri thought his career
was coming to an end in 2018
so he’ll race with nothing to
lose this year. Cortese has
been making steps all winter.
He’s a former Moto3 and
Supersport champion; and
while it will take time for him
to learn a Superbike he could
have some good results.
WILL THE NEW
FORMAT WORK?
In a word...yes! The new format
will see extra track action
each weekend. We’ll have the
normal Saturday and Sunday
races along with the Superpole
session. That session
will change this year to being
a free-for-all, with the entire
grid on track together. Winner
takes all and the fastest will
be on pole for Race 1. It will
also set the grid for the allnew
Superpole Race. This is
the biggest change, but having
extra action on the Sunday is
a real positive for the crowds.
The extra affair will be a ten
lap race. Meaning we will have
short sprints at Laguna Seca
but at a longer circuit like Portimao,
it will be much more
tactical and should encourage
a balls to the wall, winnertakes-all
mentality.
We go to racetracks to watch
the big classes. Supersport
300 and the Supersport categories
offer great action but
just like Moto2 and Moto3,
it’s the top dogs that get the
attention. The fans pay to see
Rea and Davies, Van der Mark
and Sykes. They’ll get an extra
chance this year and that can
only be a good thing.