hi-zoot - 28 June 2008 03:08 PM

i dunno. sure, logically looking towards the future and all hacking wouldn't be a good choice, but i'd still love to see it happen. i like the guy. hell, it's a kawi gp ride, not a repsol ride. why not?

Because it happens so rarely, I'd much rather see someone on it that has somewhere to actually go other than retirement.

KingKenny - 29 June 2008 08:08 AM

motoho - 27 June 2008 10:31 PM

amafan - 27 June 2008 10:16 PM

Laconi or Tamada might be a good choice for Germany because of track knowlege but Hacking has 10 more podiums in the last two years than laconi and Tamada on the Kawasaki SBK and has many wins at Laguna seca in supersport racing.

Hacking is too old.

Your too old!

It should actually be, " You're too old!"

motoho - 27 June 2008 10:31 PM

Hacking is too old.

http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12567

Would like to see it as well but not likely especially if you have someone like Melandri available and possibly a couple other candidates for next year. Plus you may have one or two 250 GP graduates coming up. Hopkins has a 2 year deal with Kawi so we're talking about Westie's seat right?

hi-zoot - 28 June 2008 03:08 PM

i dunno. sure, logically looking towards the future and all hacking wouldn't be a good choice, but i'd still love to see it happen. i like the guy. hell, it's a kawi gp ride, not a repsol ride. why not?

joe_b - 07 July 2008 01:30 PM

motoho - 27 June 2008 10:31 PM

Hacking is too old.

http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=12567

too old! HA!

thanks joe

successful surgery but it looks like 4-6 weeks. he may even miss brno.

maybe we WILL see marco on the bike then,

I am starting to wonder if Kawasaki plans to replace Hopkins at Laguna since they said they did not have a rider replace him in Germany because the replacement would not have time to know the bike but Olive Jaque knows the bike and the track in Germany and if they did not want Jaque to race they should have let the replacement rider test at Indy.They either expected to get Milandrie before Germany and not getting him messed up their plan our they were niave about Hopkins injuries and thought he would be back by Laguna so they did not plan ahead.I hope this is not a money thing and they do replace Hopkins with an Ama rider like Jamie Hacking and maybe let him test the bike this weekend in Japan before next weekends race at Laguna.

motoho - 29 June 2008 09:52 AM

hi-zoot - 28 June 2008 03:08 PM

i dunno. sure, logically looking towards the future and all hacking wouldn't be a good choice, but i'd still love to see it happen. i like the guy. hell, it's a kawi gp ride, not a repsol ride. why not?

Because it happens so rarely, I'd much rather see someone on it that has somewhere to actually go other than retirement.

I agree, at least with a younger rider there is some upside potential if they do well. Why waste a ride on someone that you would have no intention of moving up the ladder or is a known quantity.

In regards to the Bayliss comments from earlier that was a totally different situation. It was kind of payback for winning the world superbike title for Ducati. Even though he did well it's not like they were looking to bring him back up to MotoGP, although the way things have worked out with Melandri it couldn't have been worse.

I'm surprised none of the top 250 riders haven't been asked to fill in, especially for Laguna since they don't ride there anyway. It's probably contractual, and maybe self-preserving in terms of championship chasing, but seems to be a grand opportunity. Maybe someone like Pasini, Faubel, Barbera, or Aoyama? Top tier 250 riders, yet unlikely to be in the championship chase at end of the year. If RLH or Spies can run 2 series in a weekend, why not one of those guys for Sachsenring?

Unless rules have changed, in recent years riders have been prevented from running 2 classes.

Kawasaki have stated they they do intend to run a replacement rider at Laguna - expect it. As far as Jacque, after last year I don't think he'll be racing in the future.