2023 WSBK No-Spoiler Catch-All Thread

This is good news, despite the fact Ducati wanted him to race in the US because they have enough fast guys on their V4R... I'm a huge fan, I can't see him being anywhere near Bautista unless he saws a leg off or something, but solid top 10's? yeah, i think so.

Looking forward to see what Remy Gardner can do on the Yamaha as well, hopefully he can curb his outspoken manner a little and progress onto a factory bike in the future....

Has Tom Sykes signed for anyone yet? i hope he returns in 23 as well, nice to see someone who's always happy around, I met him at PI in 2019 when he was just starting on the BMW, happy to chat, top bloke!

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/2023-worldsbk-confirmed-grids-so-far

Sykes is with Puccetti Kawasaki replacing Mahias. I'm not sure how Petrucci will go on Barni Ducati, they haven't been a favored team for a couple of seasons now. While I like the guy I still find it somewhat incredible that he replaced Lorenzo in Factory team.

Who’s paying who?

He's a MotoGP winner, in the dry, more than once..... with the handicap of his beef, he deserves respect for that, and racing in any domestic championship, even winning races can't really compare with a world championship series, he may surprise everybody and be seriously competitive, (i hope so, but in all reality it's not that likely) and i'm sure he's hoping he is and gets a better V4R to ride in 24, watch out Rinaldi, he's coming for your seat....

Scott Redding must surely be paying for his ride... how that guy still gets factory rides is beyond me.....

Being a WSBK noob can someone explain the difference between the satellite and factory bikes?
I was under the impression that suberbike was closer to spec racing than MotoGP.
I'm curious if Remy has a shot on the GRT Yamaha

Factory teams are just that. Satellite teams buy their bikes with some factory assistance. In the case of the GRT team, they are a satellite team that started out 2022 with factory spec bikes (so they say), but on the track it was pretty apparent GRT's bikes were not quite as fast. Remy has almost no shot at doing any better than Gerloff did, which was often top privateer but rarely on the podium. Remy doesn't seem to crash much, while Gerloff often did. OTO, Iker came from the bottom of the KTM MotoGP teams like Remy has and he's looked pretty racy in WSK. Maybe Remy will too. I hope so.

https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/101...atching-worldsbk-expects-gardner-have-success

Will be an interesting watch.

I'm not a huge fan of Redding but credit were it's due, he was the top rider in the championship that wasn't on a Ducati, Yamaha or Kawasaki. Also he had three podiums (including a second) and almost single-handedly helped BMW finish higher than Honda in Manufacturers Championship.

All the factory riders in WSBK are getting paid well. BMW wrote some decent checks to get Redding and van der Mark. Petrucci isn't racing for free so I'm sure he's getting a paycheck. Same with Sykes. With ten factory riders and some great supported teams, getting a top ten in WSBK is not easy for any of the private teams.

WSBK rules state any parts used by factory teams must be available to any other team using that platform. There is a development period of 30 or 60 days where the factory team can use the part before making it available for private teams. That doesn't mean the private teams are going to spend the money for those parts but private teams can build an identical bike to the factory Superbikes if they want to spend the money. Of course, it's about more than the hardware. The factory teams and supported teams have more data, more staff, better pay and better working conditions so they get the best crew chiefs, engineers, and mechanics.

Denning confirmed earlier this season in an interview that Gerloff's bike was identical to what Razgatlioglu and Locatelli have.

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/sykes-to-make-puccetti-worldsbk-debut-at-jerez-test

The link above has all the official testing dates over winter.

KRT winter test livery.

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/mie-honda-sign-granado-for-worldsbk-2023

While I wish him well, a private Honda is probably the most uncompetitive machine out there.

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/ray-confirmed-with-motoxracing-yamaha-worldsbk-squad

BSB Champion Bradley Ray replaces Roberto Tamburini at Motoxracing, he's also going to find it tough.

Guess I will have to bite the bullet and get the WSBK subscription next year as well. The series keeps getting better!

Part-time ride on an noncompetitive bike. I get that he wants to take a step after winning BSB but this does not seem like a great career decision. Probably better off staying in BSB and dominating for a second year.

https://www.bikesportnews.com/news/news-detail/mcams-yamaha-confirms-mackenzie-exit

Tarran Mackenzie has officially left McAMS, this article says he may have secured a ride in WSBK but hasn't officially signed a contract. Wonder if it's the second MIE Honda seat? Their press release announcing Granado didnt mention Hafizh Syahrin at all.

Redding is the only one who can take it to the big 3 if the bike is right. Had Bautista went to HRC and never been on the Duc everyone would be saying he’s a washed up GP rider also. Rinaldi, Lowes, and Locatelli need to go and VDM was looking sketchy before the injuries anyway. I’m not knocking the big 3’s ability but some proper teammates on the same bike might change the results. Add weight or let the competition open up their revs and perhaps Bautista won’t embarrass them again.

If's buts and maybes are everyones story when they don't win, doesn't mean anything, all that matters are results.

Redding (A washed up GP rider himself) has had a stint on the Panigale, after Bautista dominated the first half of 19 but then struggled after WSBK and FIM nobbled the bike (it was brand new, so needed adjustments for parity, i get that) and crashed a lot, 20 and 21 the bike was better, significantly so and not all because of Ducati, the other bikes were changed (nobbled) for parity making the series much more interesting to watch, the racing has been brilliant.
He may be able to ride a bike but his constant whining and public disrespect of his team has cost him rides more than once, his very CHAV appearance with his tatts out all the time is unprofessional and he should be showing off his sponsors logos (you know, those who pay his wages) when on camera, not his tattoos... He always comes across as someone who rides for a pay check and not necessarily the result, may be wrong, but that's how he appears to me. The BMW had some upgrades that worked well near the end of the season and to be fair he's had the most success on it this year but he certainly doesn't dominate compared to his BMW peers, I'm still amazed they replaced Tom Sykes with him... I predict Sykes to finish higher in the standings on a customer (Pucetti?)Kawasaki in 23 then Redding.

I was respecting your opinion until you dropped that last sentence.

Mackenzie screwed himself over last year, that massive test crash ruined any chance of defending his BSB title but he was also slated to race in WSBK which didn't happen, because of his injuries? dunno... I know every rider thinks they're the best so seeing Brad Ray want to do some races in WSBK is no surprise but a half baked effort will yield half baked results, and he should have taken a full years ride, even on a lesser bike so he could be seen by the bosses for the year. Razgatlioglu, Rae etc. they started on satellite or private machinery and moved up, Ray and Mackenzie should be doing that, they would fare much better than hedging their bets.

One BSB rider to watch next year is Rory Skinner, he has a full time ride in Moto2 after a few guest appearances last year, that kid is fast! and brave, should be interesting to see how he goes, give him a year to learn the tracks, the bike and team and he might be right up there....