Good one! Been to Lake Como on my one and only bike trip through Europe. I remember it being really cool!

I am sure it drove Mladin crazy all year to be stuck in the AMA/DMG mud pit while Ben rocked and rolled through WSBK. Knowing how well he and Ben have matched up over the years he probably was wishing he was on the grid with Spies all year. Knowing how unhappy he was it's no wonder that he lost interest in the series. How do you get motivated for that mess when you watch Ben putting it to them on the greatest tracks in the world? You just know that on the right equipment and team Mladin would be on the podium a lot. Time will tell...

Getting Mat on equipment he is interested in riding is one thing. Getting Mat back on a Ducati for the first time since the early 90's with Ferracci would be something else entirely (pure fantasy), especially if it was a factory Ducati WBSK ride.

Seriously, Ducati needs to do something about getting the "right" rider, but Mladin's business "interests" with Yoshimura are too strong for him to consider a switch, no matter how interesting that would be for us Ducatisti:
http://matmladinimports.bikegearwarehouse.com/
IMHO, a WBSK ride on a Suzuki is a sweetheart deal that Yoshimura has owed Mat for a long time.

I agree. No Duc, not even a satellite team. But I could see Suzook making room for a 7 time US SBK champ. However it goes 2010 will be just another killer WSBK season! All the Brits will be smokin', Haga and Fabrizo will be wanting the crown and the man that will stand in the way? ... Biaggi. He could be the Ben Spies for 2010. Think how great the Aprilla worked for a first year effort this year. Who would have thought Aprilla would have done so much better than BMW? I expected more from Bimmer and less from Ape but was thrilled with the results. I only expect more from Biaggi and Co. next year. Then again, BMW isn't going to sit around all winter crying in their steins of beer.

All this WSBK talk is just making me wish the 2010 Phillip Island round was tomorrow!!!

Say good bye to Stiggy Racing in WSBK and WSS. Didn't see or hear anything about this. Kinda out of the blue. Hate to see them go, they were a good team getting good results. Hope to see them back soon.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Dec/091213z.htm

Kawi pulls the plug on AMA race team. Yammyhammer and Suzook will be mighty lonely on the grid next year. Wonder what Ducati will do? No firm word on them as of yet, at least not that I know of. Anyone hear anything??

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/12/18/kawasaki-out-of-ama-road-racing

Quote from: fastwin on December 18, 2009, 12:09:13 PM
Kawi pulls the plug on AMA race team. Yammyhammer and Suzook will be mighty lonely on the grid next year. Wonder what Ducati will do? No firm word on them as of yet, at least not that I know of. Anyone hear anything??

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/12/18/kawasaki-out-of-ama-road-racing

I don't think Buell will be on the grid either!  Can we now say that Buell had it's one hit? Does that count them as a one-hit-wonder?

2010 Racing begins:

Feb 27-Mar 1, WSBK, Phillip Island
March 14, Formula 1, Bahrain
March 20, American Le Mans Series, 12 Hours Sebring
April 11, MotoGP, Qatar

Just thought you'd like to know  

Quote from: lisaboyd on December 29, 2009, 03:09:38 PM
2010 Racing begins:

Feb 27-Mar 1, WSBK, Phillip Island
March 14, Formula 1, Bahrain
March 20, American Le Mans Series, 12 Hours Sebring
April 11, MotoGP, Qatar

Just thought you'd like to know 

Feb. 27, huh? As the man said, that is a long time between drinks.

In the meantime, check out the Discovery HD Theater channel's recap coverage of the 2009 IOM TT on Monday nights. They aired a hour-long segment this week on the rebirth of the cafe racer that has repeats scheduled. Also they showed a two-hour piece on the 2007 Mille Miglia Storica - nice vintage GT cars, beautiful Italian scenery, good commentary. It's nice to see Stirling Moss is still driving. Their World Rally Championship recap coverage has been pretty good, too.

http://dhd.discovery.com/

Didn't take Tardozzi long to land on his feet after he left Ducati!!

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Jan/100105b.htm

Fun in the snow! Go Nicky!!!

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/01/15/hayden-beats-alonso-massa-stoner

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Jan/100114-21.htm

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39134

I wish Hooper well. It's been downhill for him since 2007. WAY too many crashes and major injuries. Then to add insult to injury (literally...) Kawi pulls the plug on MotoGP thereby loosing his ride. Then off to Stiggy Honda (now extinct...) and WSBK for more horrendous crashes and injuries. Does this party train ever stop?? Apparently not. Next stop the wasteland of AMA/DMG bullshit superbike. I feel for the guy. He's gone full circle, started with Team Hammer and now back with M4 (current Team Hammer). Sad trip, a well paid factory MotoGP rider to being one of maybe 10 bikes on the AMA SBK grid with maybe 25 fans in the stands. How about another kick in the shorts? AMA SBK is now second fiddle to Daytona Sportbike!! The shit just keeps sliding downhill. How does he get a ride (wonder if he is even getting paid??) and Jamie Hacking doesn't?? Makes no sense. I hope he at least doesn't crash and get hurt some more.

So, so early yet but I have a really good feeling about WSBK this year. Hell, someone tell me when there was a bad year??!! It's starting off with a bang and will surely end with one.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/01/22/haslam-gets-it-started

The Brits are looking damn good so far... still, so early.

Can only hope that MotoGP is half as interesting. Hope it's not the Rossi/Lorenzo show with a win or two from Pedrobot. At least there will be the Spies fun factor. Unfortunately it will all be neutered by the stupid engine limit rule! I read Ducati used 18 engines per bike last year... this year it will be six. Bummer. I'm sure they all spent more money on engineering long life motors than they did on high revving horsepower motors. Stupid rule = dull racing. As always, we'll see.

Quote from: fastwin on January 22, 2010, 02:56:08 PM
I read Ducati used 18 engines per bike last year... this year it will be six.

By that token, Ducati will be out of engines one-third of the way through the 2010 season. I read somewhere that they are planning to detune the engines for longevity. So now, instead of "Tire Wars" it's "Engine Wars", to see who can make six engines last the season? I will reserve judgement....

Somehow I don't see anything good coming from this.