Top 3 riders this year?

With the new year, and the new season a couple of months away, I figured
predictions for the major series are in order.

Who do you think will be the top 3 place holders in GP, WSB, and AMA at the
end of the year?

I can't list any of the WSB players, because, frankly, I don't really know
the details of the teams at this point. Hopefully Walker can get the
championship.

For GP, there's a lot of unknowns.

For a complete SWAG at GP: Rossi, Bayliss, Edwards.

I think that Edwards will have the edge over the other Honda riders. If they
all start out on the same bikes, and those who do well get the better bits
through time, then I think Edwards can beat Gibernau, and Hayden.

If they sort out the Ducati more Bayliss should I think rise up as well, and
I think he's a better rider than Capirossi.

And giving the nod to Rossi in the "is it the bike or the rider" equation, I
think he can pull it off. I think we'll see a reverse of what Lawson did
when he went from Yamaha to Honda.

AMA: B. Bostrom, Mladin, E. Bostrom.

I'm thinking that the new Honda is going to give the edge to Ben, even
though it's arguable that he may be less of a rider than Mladin, if the
Honda holds true it will pull him through. The Honda is a bike built with
these rules in mind moreso than the Suzuki.

However, I fear that despite their efforts, Erics Ducati will let him down
enough drop him to below Mladin. I know the Ducati has been successful in
WSB, mechanically, but AMA (particularly Daytona) curses them for whatever
reason.

Regards,

Will Hartung
()

 

GP
I can't call this.
Biaggi, Rossi, Edwards, Gibernau, Capirossi, Bayliss, Hayden will all
win races. Tamada, Checa, Melandri, Barros, Hodgeson, Xaus, McWilliams,
Byrne, Kurtis will get several top 10 and at least 1 top 5. The Suzuki
and Kawasaki teams will waste their riders talents. Realistically, the
championship will be between the first 5 and I think Biaggi will just
ace it. Is this his last real chance to win?

WSB
- Laconi
- Toseland
- McCoy
Walker will waste a crap year on the FP1 and will be slower than Corser.
It may well hurt him enough he'll have to retire. A Ducati will win it.
Surprise!

BSB
- Emmett
- Reynolds
- Kagayama
Rutter, Richards, Haslam, Plater will all win races. Mason and maybe
even Scott Smart will get podiums. Emmett is completely broke, single
again, and *really* needs this championship. He's got the skills and now
the team. The catch is how quickly they can make the 999 work on
Dunlops.

AMA
Interesting because I think B Boz will blow it with one too many bad
races, E Boz will fall off or be surprisingly slow at one too many
races, Mladin will handicap himself by not doing Daytona and then find
the machine isn't as dominant as last year and moan a lot. Who else is
there, I've lost track? Maybe Miguel will amaze everyone and take the
championship and not just Daytona.

The one person who could screw up the non-GP championships is Haga. Have
Aprilia got enough cash to field a real competitor in WSB, BSB or AMA?
Because Haga has priced himself out of the market and that's the only
half way decent ride left. What he should do is BSB on the second
Yamaha. Tough on Gary Mason but good for the championship.

 

First of all, a happy new year to all of you.
I'm gonna stick with GP and WSB, cause I'm not in a position to know
anything about the AMA.

MotoGP :
Might get very close this year, Gibernau and Biaggi proved they can win
on the RCV, Hayden and Tamada had their learning year and could win some
races too, then there's Edwards on the Honda, should be able to do well
too, and the final RCV seems to go to either Ukawa or Barros, and we all
know what Alex is capable of on the V5.
The Ducati's will without a doubt come closer to the Honda's with
Capirossi now adjusted to racing a four-stroke and Bayliss knowing the
circuits they should be able to fight the Honda's on a regular base.
In my opinion the other two Duc's won't be up there, both riders really
aren't born winners, and their machinery won't be top of the bill either.
At Yamaha Rossi will have a hard time, especially in the first half of
the season, thinbk he'll be settled there in about 7 races, and will be
able to win some at the end of the season.
The rest of the Yamaha's I dont know, Checa is still there, but no-one
knows why, then there's Melandri, don't think he'll be a winner for
another season ( guy is just too wild for this class ) and the final
Yamaha will be Barros ( if he's not going to Honda ) who won't be
anywhere near Rossi, or his seat will be taken by Abe ( who I'd prefer )
or Guintoli, of whom I have no idea what he can do on a four stroke ( my
guess is - not much ).
The Aprilia made a big step forward last year, but I think with the loss
of Edwards they should be happy if they can remain at that level,
McWilliams might be able to surprize a few times ( if he doesn't fall
off the damn thing to often ), Byrne will have to adjust to riding at
world-class level first, don't expect much of him.
Roberts and Hopkins should be glad if they can keep in front of the
Kawasaki's of Hoffman and Nakano.
The Proton riders will have a hard time, like last year, I don't think
Roberts and Aoki will get a lot of points.
Then there will be two WCM's... maybee, maybee not.. but their only goal
should be making the qualification.

So my guess for top 3 at the moment is Gibernau, Barros ( when on a
Honda ) and Rossi, but the order in which they finish is still open.

WSB :
Hopefully not a Ducati-show like last year, though I think the champ
will be one of them, with Laconi, Toseland and maybee McCoy as favourites.
I hope the Foggy will get closer to them, hope that Corser will be able
to show once more what he's capable of, am also curious whether Walker
will be able to stay close to him. My biggest hope to threathen the
Duc's will be Chris Vermeulen on the brand new Fireblade.

Possible top 3 ; Laconi, Vermeulen, Toseland.

Greetz, Phil.