Is it too early to ask who will finish second? Of course it is but Jonathan Rea has staked a fairly hefty claim to the 2015 WSBK crown. It does however look at this stage as though Leon Haslam and Chaz Davies are going to be the main rivals.
After JR’s stellar start in the first few races I felt always that the two rounds at Assen and Imola would give a clear indication of how he and the Kawasaki in 2015 trim would be shaping up for the rest of the year.
Those two circuits were always ones were Rea out-performed expectations by winning on the Honda, including the sensational double win at Imola last year. Both Sykes and Baz had been podium finishers at Assen in the past and Sykes himself took a double win in his 2013 Championship year. If KRT came out strong again here then by the half way stage in the contest they may have a lead that would be really hard to catch.
So like I said it is way-too early to cash in the chips but if you ask anyone for a strong half-time lead I can’t imagine they would turn you down.
Assen may also be the last we see of the Hero EBR team.
On Wednesday it was announced that Eric Buell Racing, the part owner of the team, had gone into liquidation in the US with debts of over $20million. However the manufacturer is part-owned by the Hero Motorcycle Corp. in India which last year recorded around $4 billion in sales.
Current Hero EBR team manager and rider, Larry Pegram, was hurriedly added to the list of riders to attend the pre-event press conference on Thursday and did a classic impersonation of the rabbit caught in the headlights. Larry had found out about the liquidation of EBR the same way as everyone else but hoped that the team would survive till the end of the season. The only way I can see that happening is if Hero step in and buy up EBR lock, stock and barrel and keep them going.
For the future, however, we may see Hero Motor Corp staying in the WSBK paddock a lot longer, but not necessarily with the Buell marque.
It was reported that the plans I had spoken about before are becoming more concrete. The plan is that for 2017 the Stock 600 and 1000 classes will be replaced by ‘Supersport 300’, an entry level class for machines of 300cc and 400cc. This size of bike is directly in line with Hero’s product range. Their current ‘sports bike’, the Karizma ZMR (I love the name), has a 223cc engine. Dorna and the FIM are currently talking with the main manufacturers, Yamaha (YZF-R3), Honda (CBR300R) and Kawasaki (Ninja300) about kit part rules that would make the bike fast enough for competitive racing and this would allow the likes of Hero to introduce a 300cc version of the Karizma to the fold. [Ed: Would KTM also be eligible with their RC390?]
The change would bring WSBK into line with the MotoGP format of three different and clearly identifiable classes. The idea is to give a clear pathway of development for young riders and a way for the manufacturers to be involved across the programme. It should also make things easier to understand for the public. I wonder if the two-race format of Superbikes will go as well. That, however, has always been a key selling point of the Superbike Championship and something I think the race fans would turn against.
Photo by GeeBee Images/Kawasaki
