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SBK<br />
BLOG<br />
JAW-DROPPING?<br />
I still can’t believe the turnaround in this season’s WorldS-<br />
BK. It’s over 120 points in four rounds and surpasses anything<br />
we have seen in the past. That seems to be the way of<br />
everything when we speak about Jonathan Rea.<br />
I know it’s too early to talk about it<br />
but the previously unachieved high<br />
‘five’ seems like an inevitability<br />
now, however it was something so<br />
unrealistic a few short months ago.<br />
JR also racked up his 80th WorldS-<br />
BK win at Laguna, a total that I<br />
predict will only keep going up and<br />
actually may never be bettered.<br />
I don’t know where it has all gone<br />
wrong for Alvaro Bautista other<br />
than the fact that having won 11<br />
in a row he has since conspired to<br />
crash at the beginning of a race<br />
when apparently not under pressure.<br />
He was really unlucky in the<br />
Superpole race at Laguna however,<br />
tangling with Toprak Razgatlioglu in<br />
the second corner, which effectively<br />
sidelined him for race two. These<br />
things happen in racing but crashing<br />
out of the lead, in the opening<br />
laps, shouldn’t really occur at this<br />
level. Ducati supremo Gigi Dall’Inga<br />
has, in various interviews however,<br />
expressed surprise at how well<br />
Baustista faired in the open races<br />
of the season. He has been quick<br />
to point out that they are still in a<br />
development phase with the bike<br />
and with the fine margins there are<br />
at the top, a small error in the set<br />
up direction on a weekend can be<br />
costly.<br />
I hope Alvaro recovers over the<br />
summer break and comes back<br />
strongly as we need a good fight<br />
in the championship for the season<br />
run-in through September and<br />
October. Although, we are heading<br />
to Portimao, Magny Cours and<br />
Argentina, venues that Bautista has<br />
no race experience and Ducati have<br />
little or no set up data for the Panigale<br />
V4R. We may have been lured<br />
into false expectations of Bautista<br />
and the Ducati as a result of that<br />
early season spurt but the wheels<br />
have well and truly come off the<br />
wagon now and he is going to have<br />
a real battle to recover the recent<br />
losses.<br />
In a slightly ironic twist Chaz<br />
Davies seemed to have found his<br />
mojo on the V4R, taking a couple<br />
of podiums and a win in the USA.<br />
It was actually great to see him<br />
win on Sunday and also lovely to<br />
see the joy and emotion that it<br />
released. The sense of relief was<br />
palpable in parc ferme after the<br />
race and this may now kick start<br />
what is left of Davies’ season.<br />
Toprak Razgatlioglu continued to<br />
polish his CV with solid podium<br />
performances at Laguna and he<br />
was also the centre of a huge<br />
amount of transfer speculation. He<br />
seems to be the man in demand<br />
at the moment having, by all accounts,<br />
received lucrative contract<br />
offers from both Yamaha and KRT.<br />
It was a surprise to me to hear<br />
about the Yamaha offer but it was<br />
explained that his mentor, former<br />
Supersport World Champion Kenan<br />
Sofuoglu, has been a key mover in<br />
bringing it together.
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