WSBK » Hacking wants chance to show 'true potential'

And let me add that Hacking hasn't even ridden a superbike since the end of last season let alone the one he raced at Miller.

My,my we are a sensitive soul aren't we Rawdawg....I don't hate anybody fella, and couldn't give a monkey's where he hails from, could be Outer Mongolia for what it matters, but he still rode like a dork for an incomer wanting to make a favourable impression.
Difference is everybody else in the field has the knowledge that tells them how the tyres will behave over a full race distance, Hacking, or any other wildcard, doesn't have that benefit so it is totally feasable that he would have used up his tyres by 1/2 to 2/3 distance when those with better tyre management would be coming on strong.
He has no future in WSB, if he really wanted it he should have been there 10 years ago....

As for wildcards....the British riders that got on the podium in both races at Donington last year were on unfamiliar bikes and tyres....the HM plant Hondas had engines built and fitted which were untested as the BSB rules at the time stipulated engines that were essentially superstock spec, Tom Sykes ran the standard superstock spec engine...and Rea & Haslam had a 4th & podium at Portimao, again running unfamiliar engines/bikes on a track they didn't know.
BSB may run Pirelli tyres now but they're not the same as those in WSB.
Its great that wildcards get to show themselves at any round but not if they're just a loose cannon in the midst of riders doing a championship.

I never got into or mention the "where he is from" argument.

But didn't the British guys at Donnington still use their bikes (HM Plant maybe different engines but same chassis) and their own team? They didn't go to another team they didn't know or hadn't even met did they? Hacking was on a bike he never sat on and with a team he never met after not even riding a superbike in half a year. Still apples and oranges.

A slight retraction....having been otherwise engaged at the weekend I wasn't up to speed with what was happening in practice....having now scanned the sessions its clear that Hacking was on for a lower top ten finish based on his times...SP1 was a fluke, obviously using one of his 2 qualifiers to get further up the grid...his time in SP3 shows they had non left. But fair play to him, not bad for an old bloke, although he was still behind Parkes on the grid.

Just a pity he couldn't have kept his brain in gear when it came to the races...

Oh, and they've put a Union Jack next to his name......you flag wavers may want to put in a complaint about that

We could go on ad finitum....but, more powerful engines with different engine characteristics play havoc with established chassis settings, tyre choice etc. The engines went into the HMPlant bikes totally untested for Donington (then re-used for Portimao). Sykes got a second place on a bike with a superstock spec engine.
Jonny Rea podiumed the Ten Kate superbike at Portimao after being off one for a year....unknown bike, tyres, track, granted he knows the team.
Wildcards are great but it doesn't give a true reflection of their potential, and Hacking has left it too late to try and develop an international career when there's so many young riders coming thro'
Who are the US young guns?

Correction...Rea had a 4th at Portimao, Haslam had a podium.

Who are the US young guns?

Mladin's new teammate this year Blake Young. He's the one to watch.

And I'm not playing into the Brit/Yank "we are faster than you" argument and whose better, blah, blah, blah. I already got enough people hating me! LOL!

Agree on Blake and I would add Josh Herrin second on that list.

Hey Rawdawg, me neither on the US versus Europe/UK thing but its nice to know who to look out for coming thro'....we seem to have lost coverage of US racing over here at the mo so its difficult to keep up with whats going on.
In the UK the best crop of riders migrated to WSB/Supersport this year so the championship is a little lean on new talent ready to race at a higher level....Leon Camier is the obvious one to move up next year but of the remainder they're either not ready/good enough yet or are older and not destined to move out of domestic racing.
And of course we've lost Guintolli for the year which is a bummer as he would have been a great influence on the others.