WSBK: Brno (Spoilers)

He almost threw it away big time in that race, and making few friends with his aggressive style. That approach will win you races...not sure about championships. He's going to come off in a big way if the title hunt gets tight!

Thats the problem, play hard like that and others will push back which could leave him in a bad space.

Good races, particularly race #2. Congrats to Melandri on his double. I really want to see Sykes win a few before the year is out. It was great to see him not fade at mid-race, and I hope the team has now figured out how to keep from burning down the tires on the ZX.

What happened to Max? He used to own Brno. At least he salvaged some decent finishes, as compared to his starting position. He doesn't need to let BMW back into the title hunt - if you give them an inch, the next thing you know they'll be invading Poland.

Too bad about BMW folding up the factory tent next year. I hope Haslam lands on a good team, I don't think he has realized his full potential yet.

And Guintoli being left out in the cold when he showed up to the track.... Crazy. Never mind that he actually won a race this year. Not even a text saying "yur fired".

Chatter.

Two good races with a couple of very ugly incidents.

Melandri may be aggressive but he has not taken anyone out, so I would judge him as being right on the limit of what you can get away with. Than little bump with Haslam was nothing. Haslam is not bashful about a little pushing and shoving, himself. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. Haslam was moved out of the way.

Johnny Rea needs to re-think his strategy. His career is going to be severely shortened if he keeps launching himself.

Its a British thing: overriding a POS bike for a podium.



And good to see a normal sized person on the podium...

I think Rea got a little taste of his own medicine. That was the same move he did to Haslam and Melandri earlier in the year. It didn't work out this time.

What? "Same move"? Both times a hole was wide open only to have the rider cut back into him. 1st time he made it through, this time he didn't. Neither of those incidents were Rea's fault. Guy blows a corner opens a hole you take the hole. Both times the rider who blew it chopped Rea's front tire off.

Guintoli back on a Pata Ducati for Silverstone.

"Golly, that guy ran a foot wide. I know, I'll try to stick a motorcycle in there! Surely he won't come back to the apex." Brilliant thinking, Johnny.

It was exactly the same mistake he made when he torpedoed Haslam. You can say "a hole was wide open" but in both cases that hole was open when he was 3 lengths back and was gone by the time he got there. If there was a hole he would have gone through it don't you think. You can say they chopped off his front but look closer, those guys are MAYBE 12-18 inches off the line, both were in control and tightening toward a late apex - just like what happens a hundred times in every race. Rea just tried to dive in and cut them off from too far back. Remember, they can't see him back there so it's Rea's job to not rush into a gap that is closing in the wild hope that the other rider feels charitable and leaves room. Watch any close race and that same scenario happens dozens of times without the trailing rider slamming into the lead rider because they all know better.

For the record, he didn't make it through the first time either - he rammed Haslam so hard from behind (he actually hit Leon in the back of the shoulder with his front wheel) that it knocked Leon's bike out from under him. Just because Rea managed to be the only one left on two-wheels doesn't make it a successful pass, it makes it luck.

I actually have been pulling for Rea for the past couple of years but he's getting a bit out of control.

That's how you make passes.

Fixt

When he toppled Haslam I completely blame that on Melandri. If he wasn't acting completely stupid for the last few laps of the race everything would have been fine. But on the last few corners Melandri was dive bombing Haslam trying to get past him when there was no way he was going to make it through. The reason WHY Haslam was wide was because Melandri tried again to pass him on the last corner and again went wide pushing Haslam wide.

Good footage of the pass with Melandri pushing Haslam wide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA0FUbJohEg

Also more video of the whole race which was pretty much a knock down drag out from everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUDV6rbxruU

Racing in WSBK is becoming really close, as well as really exciting. We're going to keep seeing hard passes like that. Again, guy went wide, shut the door on Rea, not Rea's fault. I can't find a video of it online though.

I think most would consider running into a closed door to be a bad decision. The results speak for themselves.

Macro forced Haslam to turn in late but it was still Rea who chose to dive into a closing gap from too far back and hit the other rider from behind. I blame Melandri for slowing up Haslam for no reason but he didn't make Rea's bike crash into him. Johnny did that all by himself. Again, guys get slowed up like that all the time and don't end up with tire tread marks on their back.

You can keep dragging this out, but very few see it your way. Including the riders.

Sure dude, I'll bet Rea was thinking, "Wow, this was a great idea!" as he flew through the air and landed on his head.

Since it's getting personal (for some) I'll leave it at this point. Wouldn't want to clutter up a forum about racing with, you know, talk about racing...

You saying this is getting personal for me?? HUH, DOUCHEBAG, YOU WANNA GO? I'LL TAKE YOU OUTSIDE AND PUT YOU ON THE GROUND LIKE REA DID HASLAM AND MELANDRI AT DONINGTON PARK. NOW WHAT??

I'm completely and totally kidding btw. I love talking racing, and that's what we're doing. 2 differing opinions. My point is being that in both cases the rider went wide and had to slow down, Rea took advantage of that and the other rider(both) came back on to the line at a slower pace. Otherwise why/how could Rea have rammed them?

Case in point, recently Marq Marquez was almost penalized for doing the exact same thing. Went off line, slowed down, came back on the racing line and took out another rider(I think espargaro?). Racing that close when you know someone is eating up your rear end and you blow a turn and have to brake then plow it back on the racing line and get hit, that's your fault. Not the guy going for the opening to pass.

Again, the above all caps statement was purely in jest.

edit: Actually Marquez was penalized and then it got reversed.

Rea seems like an asshole to me also! BOTH times (Donnington & Brno) he threw a major league "hail-mary". First time he got away with it. Second time, not so much!
I'm glad to see he didn't get hurt.
I'm also glad to see him do some "pavement surfing"!
I'm sure he's not making a lot of friends ion the paddock, and I'll bet quite a few people there weren't real sad to see him bin it.