Bayliss: I like it, love it or hate it!

Bayliss is the man to watch in WSBK. He is great guy and rider. He is old fox and he knows how to get point?...

Come on Bayliss, 2008 is the championship year for you!...

He's riding injured again this weekend. MCN reported he had a push bike accident this week while out training.
Whats the betting it doesn't slow him down though! ;)

So Grasshoppers, the Lizard once more becomes the Urangutan ;-)

Now ask yourself this - How deeply do you care?

Today must be St George's slow news day.

What's up with the Ducati weight rules change? Know it was supposed to happen if they finished well at the last round, & 1st & 2nd places im assuming qualifies ... but havnt heard any news since ...

Also, cant remember if the rules only allow for a weight review, or also on the restrictor plate?

Anyone in the know?

What's up with the Ducati weight rules change? Know it was supposed to happen if they finished well at the last round, & 1st & 2nd places im assuming qualifies ... but havnt heard any news since ...

Also, cant remember if the rules only allow for a weight review, or also on the restrictor plate?

Anyone in the know?

Dice - there is no weight penalty yet - primarily because of Biaggi non-scoring at Phillip Island!

I beleive the formula is as follows: performance is reviewed after the third, sixth and ninth round etc. The points of the first two fours at each round are added then compared with the first two twins at each round. If the average difference in favour of the twins is greater than 5 then 3kg is added. If eventually 6 kg is added and the points at the next review are still in favour of the twins then their air intake restrictor is reduced from 50 to 48 and eventually to 46mm.

However Biaggi non-scored and the four cylinder bikes scored highly so no restriction.

...Continued The total points scored by the top 2 twins over the first 3 rounds was 234. The total points scored by the top 2 fours was 198. So, (234-198)/12 = 36/12 =3.

I was under the impression that if the twins finished 2nd or better, they would get a weight penalty ... & they looked safe until Checa brave move took out the 2 leading 4's

Seems a long winded calculation ... just looking at the constructors championship shows the 4's more evenly matched (except the poor Kawa's) ... but the Ducati's are miles ahead ... after their 1st 3 races on bikes that are supposedly further into their development cycle ...

Not that the Duc's were fastest at the last round tho ... but wud hav preferred to see a situation where the rules determined whether or not they were too heavily penalised & took off weight. Even if they did add weight now, Ducati is effectively starting the part of the season with a 50point+ start towards the championship.

The Ducks needed to finish in 1st and 2nd places in both races in round three, but finished 2nd and 7th in the second race. The average points gap at each round actually got tighter being 5 at round 1, 3 round 2 (average overall of 4) and 1 at round 3 (average overall of 3). The Ducatis did start the year with a weight disadvantage and also with 50 mm restrictors so that the potential was their to reduce these. I agree that the formula is complicated.

Bayliss has been consistently near the front. Biaggi non-scored at round 2 and due to injury scored badly at round 3 - if Biaggi had scored 2 seconds at round 2 (as looked likely) and then scored well at round 3 the Ducks would have ...

The Ducks needed to finish in 1st and 2nd places in both races in round three, but finished 2nd and 7th in the second race. The average points gap at each round actually got tighter being 5 at round 1, 3 round 2 (average overall of 4) and 1 at round 3 (average overall of 3). The Ducatis did start the year with a weight disadvantage and also with 50 mm restrictors so that the potential was their to reduce these. I agree that the formula is complicated.

Bayliss has been consistently near the front. Biaggi non-scored at round 2 and due to injury scored badly at round 3 - if Biaggi had scored 2 seconds at round 2 (as looked likely) and then scored well at round 3 the Ducks would have ...

The Ducks needed to finish in 1st and 2nd places in both races in round three, but finished 2nd and 7th in the second race. The average points gap at each round actually got tighter being 5 at round 1, 3 round 2 (average overall of 4) and 1 at round 3 (average overall of 3). The Ducatis did start the year with a weight disadvantage and also with 50 mm restrictors so that the potential was their to reduce these. I agree that the formula is complicated.

Bayliss has been consistently near the front. Biaggi non-scored at round 2 and due to injury scored badly at round 3 - if Biaggi had scored 2 seconds at round 2 (as looked likely) and then scored well at round 3 the Ducks would have ...

.. recieved the weight penalty so perhaps Bayliss should be thanking Biaggi not only for his big points lead, but also for all the Ducatis including his own not being penalised.

I think the point about development is a red herring - the Fireblade was new for this year and Ten Kate had 3 days testing and some of the other fours also were new with limited testing - The Ducati had been tested for a year before its first race appearance.

Sorry about the triple post - I don't understand how that happened.

I've actually played round with the figures, & the ONLY way of calculating by using the top 2 results of the twins & 4's that actually gives less than a 5 point ave, is the one theyre using.
Also looks suspicious that at every round the twins murdered the 4's by much more than a 5 point ave in the 1st race, then race 2 was almost dead even or in favour of the 4's ... Ducati playing 'the rules game' perhaps?

BMW's decision to go with a 1000cc Four seem to indicate that's the smart thinking, but I dont see it ... would be nice to see the KTM RC8 there to give us a more varied comparison.

Dice, at the 1st race at Valencia, the Ducati's had luck,as Checa knocked Max out. So the Ducati didn't "murder" the 4's.
At race 2 though I wonder if Bayliss didn't try to win. I mean he closed the gap on Nori but then just kind of let him go. He was not as wild about the win as at Qatar with Biaggi! So he maybe rode smart,thinking 5 points are not worth the risk of weight penalty, and Haga is quite much back considering points.

Good point Guy, although I know Bayliss really wants Foggys' record for WSBK wins. Maybe the 3rd championship means more.