WSB kicks off & JT reveals his picks!
With Pit Shadow having a holiday, we asked ex- FB columnist and former double WSB champ and MotoGP racer, James Toseland, for his top six picks of MotoGP and WSB for 2017 – take it away, James!
MOTOGP – TOP SIX 1 Marc Marquez – Honda
If he could win on the Honda last year that was clearly down on power and speed, and if they’ve improved it, I can’t see him not doing the same thing again. If it wasn’t for the new kid on the block, I’d rubber-stamp it right now. With the experience he has winning three titles from four seasons, and if Honda improve their speed and braking stability, he’s a guarantee for the top two, and probably the top one!
2 Maverick Vinales – Yamaha
Only Honda and Yamaha are fast everywhere, and that will make the difference for Maverick especially considering his testing and race pace. He’s a definite for race wins, and though it wouldn’t be as big a deal as Leicester City winning the premier league, I think there’s even more chance of him winning the MotoGP title. A definite top three finisher even on a new bike, his only disadvantage is lack of knowledge on the M1.
3 Valentino Rossi – Yamaha
I think there are two who will beat him this year, but he’ll have the measure of everyone else, or he should have at least. At 38 years old I just can’t see him beating Vinales and Marquez, but his consistency could possibly just nudge him ahead of Vinales, a tentative ‘maybe’. It’s all about his qualifying performances, his race pace is always brilliant married with his experience, but where he starts on the grid is crucial.
4 Cal Crutchlow – Honda (Or Andrea Iannone – Suzuki!)
I think Crutchlow is riding better than Dani Pedrosa right now, but then considering rider ability Iannone could easily put the Suzuki in fourth place – so long as he can keep it sunny side up! I think Iannone is better than Dovi, and I think he could possibly beat Cal, too, but I’m honestly struggling to split them. I’d like to see Cal finish up there consistently and hope he gets the right package, and there’s always Iannone’s temperament – he could finish fourth just by knocking everyone else off!
5 Andrea Dovisiozo – Ducati
I’d put him ahead of Lorenzo right now; nobody else has beaten himwhen they’ve been alongside him on the Ducati at the very least in consistency terms. His experience on the bike, and crucially his understanding of it, coupled with his general experience in MotoGP should keep him in the top five. Maybe a win in Austria, but podiums and a top five finish is on the cards.
6 Jorge Lorenzo – Ducati
It was nice to finally see him fast in Qatar testing, and he’ll be quick at places like there and Austria, but I’d be impressed if he even beats his team-mate. It’ll be an interesting battle between themwhich I think Dovi can win. The bike is so different from the Yamaha, If he doesn’t get much feeling from the front end he could have a crash or two and he hasn’t gelled with the Michelin tyres, which could be his undoing. It is Lorenzo, though, so there’s always a little chance he could surprise us all!
WSB – TOP SIX 1 Jonny Rea – Kawasaki
Hasn’t he won it already?! I just can’t see anyone beating him. Just looking at his social life; he has his family with him, he’s happy, settled, he trains in Australia in winter, he has an amazing relationship with his team – it’ll take something incredible to beat that so I think he’ll probably take his third title. Which takes him one above me, which is annoying! Fair play to Kawasaki for investing in WSB and promoting bikes they’re actually selling, and in Jonny, too.
2 Chaz Davies – Ducati
He is definitely a top three man, multiple race winner, and probably second. The only thing that may work against him is the frustration that comes from realising he may finish second again. Psychologically for a rider, after a whole winter of preparation and hard work, but with the way Rea is riding, that horrible feeling of another year slipping away is never too far off. If that kicks in it could even give his team-mate Melandri an edge. But Chaz is a solid guy, and if he keeps his head he should either challenge Jonny or at least finish second. I do hope it’s the former!
3 Tom Sykes – Kawasaki
Another year getting shown the way by his team-mate. That must be so frustrating. The first rounds of any year have never been great for him, but back in Europe and on that Kawasaki he should at least win races and finish third. And if it all goes wrong again, is it time for him to look for another ride? The problem is there’s not too many places in WSB you’d want to go other than Kawasaki, though. But his riding style of stopping and firing doesn’t work as well as Jonny’s smooth flow, so he’ll often be behind him.
4 Marco Melandri – Ducati
I know Marco a bit from my MotoGP days, and when you see him ride now it’s clear he’s loving it again. Because of his GP andWSB experience, and consistency, it puts him above Lowes, but only just. I’m happy he’s got his mojo back; he was miserable on the Aprilia in GP, but WSB suffers from a shallow depth of field in terms of nationalities so he’s important for the series, too.
5 Alex Lowes – Yamaha
I’m so pleased to see Yamaha coming out fighting in 2017, putting a factory bike on the gird would be embarrassing if it wasn’t up there. I know James Ellison is loving his BSB bike in testing, incidentally. The problem is Alex’s patchy consistency (and his crashing rate!), but I think Alex can finish top five at the very least.
6 Leon Camier – MV Agusta (Or Nicky Hayden! – Honda)
You have to look at lap times – even in MotoGP in 2008 I did a 1m:54.1s on an 800, while Vinales recently did a 1m:54.3s on his ’17 Yamaha – it’s all about tyre technology and even inWSB they’re doing similar times as we did. So even though Leon Camier is on a very old bike, the tyres gives him a chance, allied to his talent. But Hayden could sneak in there if Honda get things right. His wrist issue is now fixed and we know how talented he is, but it’s all down to the bike.