Mat posted on this on his Twitter page today. "a couple of world superbike offers have come my way in the past month. 1 of them very good in regards to machinery. decisions decisions ;-)" from http://twitter.com/matMladin Thoughts? My first thought is "Right the f- on!" I think it would be great to see him back on the world stage after all these years. I have no doubt that he could do very well, definitely top five, probably top three and maybe even take the big cup. However, I have never been a Mat Mladin fan. I respect him as a rider and businessman but if he does choose to commit to a series ride I would still root for Haga first. This year I favored Ben over Nori as I have liked Spies for years. However, Nori is my favorite and has had a championship a long time coming.
Wow Spies, Nori and Mladin wow it would really be fun to watch. I hope he does it just to see the competition between them.
Yep, Spies is with Edwards and Edwards teammate, two time SBK Champ James Toseland, is taking Spies spot on the Sterilgarda Yamaha squad. Maxipad Biaggi should be stronger this coming year with more development time on the impressive RSV4 as well.
Dunno. Thought I heard Mat's heart was no longer in racing at the end of last season. Seems like a rather large obstacle.
Suzuki could use the help, and no doubt he could win some races. I'd like to see it happen. Although I imagine Nori would like for him to stay home.
He has spoken at length about how his heart was no longer in it. He also said that he had no desire to go racing on the world stage. However, that was before Ben Spies went and handily won the SBK championship on his first try. I kind of wonder if maybe Mat didn't want to go back to the world stage because he didn't want to suck. Maybe he was one of the people whom he spoke against? Maybe he's just getting bored sitting at home already. I'll say this for him, he's a cagey bloke, no doubt about it.
World Superbike would be off the hook if the following were to happen: 1. Bayliss on a factory Ducati. 2. Mladin on a factory Suzuki. 3. Edwards on a factory Yamaha or Honda. 4. Gobert clean and sober on factory Kawasaki. But as it stands now, Cal Crutchlow on the R1 is the man to beat.
The first part I agree with. Crutchlow is a great rider but you're smoking crack if you think he's going to to go out there and dominate.
I hope he goes to to WSBK. He would get his ass handed to him! WSBK Suzuki is no Yosh Suzuki! Go Biaggi! Nori is going to take it with two races to go. Go Tex Three! F... Toseland!!!!!
Get back to me after the season. Better yet, name me at least 5 current riders that are faster and hungrier than Crutchlow?
You are absolutely right, WSBK Suzuki is no Yosh Suzuki. There is this little variable called a "rider" which is sort of important. Mladin/Spies are much better riders than Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama. As for Biaggi, he was a great 250 rider, but on the big bikes, he just doesn't have that little bit extra to get over the top. Nitro Nori is one my favorite superbike riders of all times, especially when he was riding an R7, but he lacks the consistency to win the title.
Nori has already won the championship once, he had it taken away because he tested positive for Ephedrine, a substance that's found in cold medicine. I am predicting that Biaggi will be at the front a lot more this coming season. Aprilia will have had a full season to develop the bike and it was already pretty good this year. Johnny Rea is a fast sumb!tch and he has a lot to prove. Michelle Fabrizio also has a lot to prove and you can bet that he will be gunning for Haga from the word go. Toseland is a talented rider. The fact that he couldn't hack it in GP doesn't change that. Some people can make the switch and some cannot. The Yamaha is going to be good next year, I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be in the mix at the front. Phreek: The GP team is Tech 3 Yamaha. It's a french team so 3 is spelled "troi" which is pronounced twah. So it would be Tex 3 or Tex Trois. :thumbsup. :stirthepote:
+1 everything above. As for Mladin, I believe he lost the "heart" thanks to the DMG debacle and Spies' departure which left him almost NO competition here in the States. Now had he taken a ride in WSBK 3-8 years ago I think maybe he would've done what Spies is doing today.
F_ck him !!!! i say now with the new rules AMA has he really had to work to win still suzuki has a great edge on everyone with there cookie cuter bikes that being said he does not have the killer heart he was on a great team with great machines , so he should just go fly his planes and disappear with his attitude
I've never really liked Hopkins, even when he was here. I couldn't believe it when Red Bull Yamaha picked him up. I think he's done. He's the American equivalent of Tady Okada. Talented rider but never really got anywhere and probably should have moved on a long time ago.