WSB - Assen (Spoiler)

 Race 1:  Spies' charge the last two laps left me literally breathless
at the line.  I've not been so happy at the end of a race for a long,
long time.  I admit I'm biased, though, being a 'Murican and all. ;)

Race 2:  As charged as I was about Race 1 I was equally disappointed
by Race 2.  Talk about deflating...  Not only did Spies crash out at
the beginning, the rest of the race was pretty dull for the most
part.

-Dirt-

 

Pretty much the way WSB is this year, right? When Spies is in it it's
interesting, when he's not it's pretty much just Haga/Corse running away
with it. Unfortunately, now Haga has a 60-point lead in the championship and
continues his Spies-like run of 1sts/2nds, so the championship doesn't look
very compelling right now. It certainly appears Spies is having to ride it
harder at this point, and that's a tough way to bridge a big points gap.

Anyway, When I watched the replay of the race on Speed I didn't know the
results but had seen the points, so knew Ben would either win or crash in
that first race, and that was in question right to the end! A brilliant last
couple laps by Ben, dare I say quite Rossi-like. It was amusing to hear the
(Brit) commentators talking about Spies as the best SB racer in the world
right now (Hodgson's comment), and also Mladin mentioned along with him - I
coulda told them that years ago. Anyway, knowing Ben wouldn't finish the 2nd
race, at least he ended the suspense quickly. It seems like his tactic is to
really push early on, perhaps to try to get away but probably as much to
push the pace and accelerate tire wear, then take advantage in the end when
he's better on worn tires. May have bit him in that race.

A continuing story was Haslam's performance, now three podiums and in 3rd in
points, and making those Ten Kate boys look pretty bad with their lack of
podiums and 9th, 11th and 15th in points. A good day for Sykes, 4th and 6th,
and another shitty day for Neukirchner and Alstare, who only look a bit
short on the rider front. Fabrizio continues his fine work in assuring that
Haga won't have weight added to his bike, finishing behind private Ducatis
in both races.

On to Monza...

 
Nobody's quite sure but it seems Fabrizio may have had a rare gearbox
failure in the 2nd race. But I agree he's playing the role of 2nd rider
at Corse true to form.

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 On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:20:46 -0700 (PDT), Dirt


S'funny - I wanted Spies to win, and I'm a brit.  Go figure, as I
understand you colonials say :-)

Anyway, you're right - race 1 was great, and the last couple of laps
amazing.  And with Spies crashing in race 2, I fear for the
championship - Haga really shouldn't let this year slip through his
fingers.
--
Champ

 
When Spies pull the pass on Haslam I laughed out loud.  Really quite
an amazing piece of work from both riders.  I didn't know two bikes
could fit into a space that small.  Then, when Spies rode by Haga, you
could almost hear Haga saying to himself, "Holy S***!"  It's really
everything I watch racing for.  Experienced and very good riders
making hard but clean passes.  It was a joy to watch and right up
there with the few golden Bayliss/Edwards laps at Imola back in '95
(?).

-Dirt-