EASY PICKINGS?
The portly gentleman with the red suit and beard has brought 2018 to a close and that means 2019 is upon us and the dawn of a new racing season is growing ever closer; and it’s shaping up to be a corker. So where are you placing your bets?
Okay, with Jonathan Rea staying on the (almost) unbeatable Kawasaki, he has to be the favourite at this point. A string of four championships in a row, makes him a difficult and almost impossible man to bet against… although the other seat is holding reigning British Champion Leon Haslam who brings with him a raft of knowledge and ability to ride without the electronic aids that are present in the world championship. Also working 6ft away from his mate, Rea will no doubt help him massively in his return to the class.
But in my eyes, the biggest challenger looks to be the diminutive Italian Alvaro Bautista and the new Ducati V4. Jumping off the customer Ducati in MotoGP and onto the Factory Superbike at the Jerez test, showed he’s had absolutely no problem adapting, which was really the only worry.
If he can continue the pre-season momentum to Phillip Island he will be at the sharp end immediately; and as the V4R develops, it will only get quicker, which will help as stringing a whole season together though is quite another challenge as 2018 runner up Chaz Davies has proven. After finishing the previous two seasons as the bridesmaid, will the new Ducati upgrade him to being the World Superbike bride? From testing, it looked like Alvaro had the upper hand, but Chaz has always been a Sunday afternoon type of guy, so don’t look into it too much.
The one package that really has been overlooked for ’19 though has to be Tom Sykes. The new and factory-supported BMW S1000RR coupled with a new team wielding the spanners will, fingers crossed, revitalise the lairy Yorkshireman, although do expect him to be quick straight out the blocks. Everyone knows what he is capable of and with the right ingredients, he will be a title contender, but with the S1000RRs not coming till just before the season expect the testing programme to be slightly rushed. Then again, sat just next to Sykes will be the reigning Stock 1000 champion, Markus Reiterberger, who’s been BMW’s development go to guy since spanking the IDM championship in 2013. He enters this season full of confidence from his devastating pace last year winning the Superstock championship, again coupled with factory machinery he will no doubt spring a few surprises.
But then again, it’s not just the factory squads that are looking good, with the newly formed GRT Superbike team packing a serious punch when it comes to jockeys. Reigning Supersport champion (at his first attempt...) Sandro Cortese and questionable spectacles wearer Marco Melandri showed that they are both comfortable and immediately competitive on the Yamaha superbike in testing, and expect Melandri to be pushing on if he wants a job for next year. Just before round one last year, I saw him sat totally alone on the pier in Cowes looking lost. A few days later he went and did the double at Phillip Island, something he didn't repeat for the rest of the season. Maybe being dropped somewhere alone in a Ray Mears style stage is what the ex-MotoGP winner needs to perform for a whole season? Or perhaps just a Yamaha... with squad working alongside the Pata Team to get the strongest results. Michael Van Der Mark lines up again in those same colours as last year, hoping to build on his very impressive 2018 season. The Dutchman finished in third place overall and those incredible rides at Donington show he’s got the minerals, so some shiny new parts from Japan can only help his bid. Same goes for his team mate Alex Lowes, who is also one man with a very good chance of running for the championship with clear speed and aggression – as long as the package allows. They’ll be there or there abouts, and hopefully they’ll wait it out for the elusive new R1.
With the addition of a third race on a weekend, a grid full of top class riders (finally) on very decent machinery, World Superbikes looks to be the most hotly contested and exciting championship of recent times. About bloody time, and we can’t wait…