Stand by for another ‘Showdown’ finale
How tense do you like it? Are you still holding your breath? Are your fingernails getting tired, hanging on to the cliff edge?
One major championship was decided last weekend, an even bigger one wasn’t. The common ground is that both BSB and World Superbikes remained (and remain) open until the final round. BSB of course has a bit of help in this regard, thanks to the Showdown system, that levels the scores and opens up chances to the top eight scorers (up by two this year) in the early rounds. Artificial, yet workable, and in a way fairer than the allscores-count system, in that it rescues riders who may have missed points through injury or breakdown.
This year it also reversed the order at the top. Jason O’Halloran was leading Tarran Mackenzie when points were added up after the first eight rounds then basically forgotten. By the end of the Showdown, O’Halloran was third and McAMS Yamaha teammate Mackenzie first. There’s a certain elegance to Taz’s victory, coming exactly a quarter of a century after father Niall claimed the first of his three national titles.
And of course it’s a second example (after the two Kenny Robertses) of father-and-son titles, posing an interesting question of nature versus nurture.
Are great racers born, or made? I think we can by now conclude it is a bit of both. Niall came into racing in proper old-school style, after discovering that he was pretty handy at hurling his 250 Yamaha round the Scottish roads. Tarran and brother Taylor, on the other hand, followed the modern way… the path laid out before them, with childhood tuition from a deeply knowledgeable dad. So to World Superbikes where two more race wins stretched Razgatlioglu’s lead over Jonathan Rea by another six points. It now stands at 30… but with another 62 on the table for the final round at the brand-new 2.7-mile Mandalika track in Indonesia, this is set to be another ‘Showdown’. There’s more nature-nurture at play here. Toprak’s father was Arif ‘Tek Teker’ (Wheelie) Razgatlioglu, a famed stunt rider. Arif died in a street-bike crash in 2017 but had by then already played a big role in his second son’s burgeoning racing career. Rea and his Turkish rival have an agonising five weeks to wait before the title decider.
And so do the fans.
‘Rea and his rival have five weeks to wait’