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+--- Thread: hopper to Stiggy WSBK (/showthread.php?tid=8082)
hopper to Stiggy WSBK - .paul - 03-19-2009
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- Sijray21 - 03-19-2009
glad to see he found another ride, hopefully he won't be riddled with injuries this year.
- G.Irish - 03-20-2009
One of the guys on Speed forum shared this rumor about a month or two ago. I was kinda incredulous at the time but here it is.
In some ways I think it's good for Hopper to at least be racing somewhere. At the very least the Stiggy Honda is a somewhat competitive ride whereas Marco Melandri is NEVER going to get near the podium on that year-old Kawasaki he's riding.
However, if Hopper doesn't look so hot in WSBK he is absolutely not going to get a GP ride next year. He needs to be out there mixing it up with the front group every weekend in order to get another shot. And if he does get another shot at GP I can all but guarantee it won't be a factory ride.
Of course I've been saying Hopper should've taken a better satellite ride instead of his crappy Suzuki and Kawasaki rides for years. Had he been on a privateer RC211V or M1 he probably could've at least won a race by now.
Anyway, more wind in WSBK's sails. They've got 4 ex-GP guys in the series, the last 2 BSB champions, the 3-time AMA champ, and the 2008 WSS runner up in their line-up. Good times, even though I get the feeling Spies is going to run away with it.
- .RJ - 03-20-2009
G.Irish Wrote:Anyway, more wind in WSBK's sails. They've got 4 ex-GP guys in the series
4? Its gotta be 12.
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Looking at that list...
Biaggi, Checoa, Corser, Haga, Rolfo, Laconi, Nakano, Byrne, Fabrizio, Haslam, Tamada and Xaus all did some time in GP. I am probably missing one or two
- G.Irish - 03-20-2009
Eh, I consider ex-GP to be guys who started in GP and had most of their careers in GP. Corser, Haga, Laconi, Byrne, Fabrizio, Haslam, and Xaus were all journeymen in GP with stints of 2 years or less. Rolfo was the only other one who went straight to GP and he only lasted one year.
So really it's only Biaggi, Checa, Tamada, and Hopkins that had a significant career in GP's. All the other guys couldn't really be called career GP riders.
- Ginger - 03-20-2009
He's still going to talk a big game. And he's still going to suck.
That is all.
- .paul - 03-21-2009
agreed w/ ginger, shame he started GP so early.. ruined himself.