Checa'd Out
Sunday, February 27, 2011 at 11:01AM
Checked out actually. That is what Carlos Checa did in both WSBK races at Phillip Island today, with Biaggi settling for second in both in front of Haslam Jr. and Melandri in race 1 & 2 respectively. Greg Sarni scolded me for calling Checa and Biaggi geriatrics, and as he rightly points out they can still beat the youngsters, so why should they stop? It is a sad reflection on the state of racing that they can still beat the field. Where are all the next great riders?
There were a few in the race of course, just not at the sharp end other than Haslam. Australian Mark Aitchison started his first WSBK event after limited time on the bike, and as Kenny would tell him, stayed on it and improved. In race one he was over a minute behind the winner, but halved that deficit in the second. Now there may be reasons for that but as we in the US do not actually get to watch the races until this afternoon I guess I will have to wait and see.
Not much else going on. More quotes from Bernie's story, "No Angel," about Alonso who sounds like no angel himself, but most of us knew that already. Not to be outdone by Jenson running a V8Supercar around Bathurst it now seems Lewis is going to swap cars with Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen later this year. Has Lewis ever driven something with a roof?
There were a few in the race of course, just not at the sharp end other than Haslam. Australian Mark Aitchison started his first WSBK event after limited time on the bike, and as Kenny would tell him, stayed on it and improved. In race one he was over a minute behind the winner, but halved that deficit in the second. Now there may be reasons for that but as we in the US do not actually get to watch the races until this afternoon I guess I will have to wait and see.
Not much else going on. More quotes from Bernie's story, "No Angel," about Alonso who sounds like no angel himself, but most of us knew that already. Not to be outdone by Jenson running a V8Supercar around Bathurst it now seems Lewis is going to swap cars with Tony Stewart at Watkins Glen later this year. Has Lewis ever driven something with a roof?
Reader Comments (3)
Bob
WSB..May be interesting racing, but, seems to be full of guys who didn't make it in MotoGP.
I do like Max B. though. Always very impressive in 250cc .
Has Lewis ever driven something with a roof?
Remember the Mercedes " incident" in Melbourne last year ? Does that count ?
I dont get to see WSB on the box either. I think its on a pay channel, but, not paying $700 a year now, just to see WSB. I ditched pay TV a few years ago.
Peter. I think that's always been the case in WSB history. Unless Ben Spies can make an honorouble exception in the future. I'm not forgetting the Bayliss win either in Valencia, another honorouble exception.
Bob, Mark Aitchison has struggled with braking problems over the weekend on the new Kawasaki. As you know he first jumped on it on Monday this week, and was racing it on Sunday. Shows the Aussie fighting spirit right there. In Race 1 it was front braking probs that caused him to run off the circuit, but he finished the race in 19th. In Race 2 he found some comfort on the bike and started to get into a groove, that is until his rear tyre started not performing as well half way through the race. He finished 16th, just pipped at the finish line for a point. All in all, not a bad first week's effort, me thinks. Next race 3 weeks from Donnington. Mark's year is going to be good. Peter, isn't there a delayed telecast on Channel Ten (HD One)?