The Bayliss replacement question is a good one. Who are the current candidates? Canepa, Max Biaggi, and Xaus? I'd like to see Biaggi get the ride for one to two years to see if he can get a championship but the last few races since his injury he hasn't been as sharp. Maybe his injury is still bothering him. It will be interesting to see what Canepa (sp?) can do with the with the wild-card rides.

garyb425 - 09 June 2008 02:28 PM

DamattaSpeed - 06 June 2008 03:48 PM

um, who the hell knows at this point...

rossi and jorge will stay at yamaha.

jt is signed to tech 3 already.

hopper is locked in at kwak.

dani pee pee a lock at repsol.


that's about all the confirmed for now.

the big question is: Who replaces Bayliss at Xerox Ducati?

You forgot Stoner at Ducati and West at Subway but otherwise that's about it. It will be interesting to see if Guintoli's or Elias' fortunes are affected by the Ducati situation. Melandri should be safe but I'm not as sure about those two.

Tough year to be a young rider - if you look at the combined times for the first 3 sessions this weekend 1st was one second ahead of 15th - but you see the name in 15th and think, wow, he's sucking. 10 years ago 4th was a second back.

Byrne is another rider rumored for Bayliss' seat but it's an MCN rumor, sooooo...

Don't forget about the new manufacturers. BMW will be in the series and can't remember when KTM and Aprilia are entering. Just BMW is going to mix things up though.

Troy Corser to BMW, Alex Hoffman to KTM, Joan Lascorz to Yamaha Italia...talking out of my ass again!

Biaggi is favorite for Bayliss' seat right now... but Xerox want an Brit or American rider on at least one of the bikes.

Nicky would be perfect, but doubt he would want to go. KRJR is actually not a horrible idea, and I hadn't thought of it. I'd like to see him in WSBK, and he could be the first to win the World Title in both series (nobody has done it yet, right? Or am I crazy).

RR I think you're right that Nicky would be a good fit on Duc WSB bike because he rode the Honda twin RC51 to a championship in the AMA but I'm sure he feels he's not done in MotoGP. However, if he lands on a lessor factory team in MotoGP he'll just be wasting time. But from what I'm hearing the WSB riders don't make as much as their counterparts in MotoGP.

Gary mentioned Byrne which I've heard to. He's a good rider too but I think a higher profile rider such as Biaggi would be good if he can improve his riding form in the second part of the season. I'm going to miss Bayliss's warrior mentality and skill when he retires. As far as KRJR on the Duc I'm not sure he'd do that well. Has he ever ridden/raced a twin?

robertorolfo - 20 June 2008 08:06 AM

Biaggi is favorite for Bayliss' seat right now... but Xerox want an Brit or American rider on at least one of the bikes.

Nicky would be perfect, but doubt he would want to go. KRJR is actually not a horrible idea, and I hadn't thought of it. I'd like to see him in WSBK, and he could be the first to win the World Title in both series (nobody has done it yet, right? Or am I crazy).

I wouldn't worry to much about lack of twin experience... these guys are all good at adapting. Biaggi was quick right away on the Ducati (and if anything has gotten slower), and he never rode a twin before. KRJR is definately adaptable... I mean, he raced for his dad's team which basically means using a million different engines and chasis over the course of a year or two.

I'm sure they will have tons to share about the silly season during this weekends broadcasts. I'll update you guys with whatever I find out, on monday.

KRJR seems to have lost the fire in the belly for racing. Though on a competitive bike he could contend. But I'm not so sure the Duc in WSBK is that competitive. Other than Bayliss, no one else has consistently put one toward the pointy end of the field. That could be different with a healthy Max B, but we just don't know.

Also, I can't really see Spies going to Kawasaki. If anything, this season they've seemed to have regressed from last year. It just donesn't look (from the outside) to be a competitive ride. And as much as Spies HATES not being in the fight, he'd not like being on that thing.

During qualifying one of the announcers said that there's big rumors going around right now saying that Melandri is out after this race or definitely this year and that Kawasaki looks to be where he is going.

Reality check:
- Hayden will not be in WSBK anytime soon. Honda have given him the pneumatic engine to keep his interests at Honda. There are rumors all over the British net that he has already signed with Ducati, even the announcers mentioned it during QP. I don't think it's that definite as Honda would not be to keen on letting him test their new technology if they new he was leaving. More than likely, giving it to him is incentive to stay.
- After this debut in Moto GP, Ben Spies will not be going there either. He has impressed quite a few people this weekend so far and he is just getting his feet wet, literally! He finished 8th in QP in the rain.
- Edwards will be staying in Moto GP as well.