2006 AMA Superbike by G

[G.Irish]

I'll get around to finishing this later, I just felt like getting the thread started.

Teams

Yoshimura Suzuki
Mat Mladin
Ben Spies
Aaron Yates

Austin Ducati
Ben Bostrom
Neil Hodgson

American Honda
Jake Zemke
Miguel Duhamel

Kawasaki
Tommy Hayden
Roger Lee Hayden

Jordan Suzuki
Jason Pridmore
Steve Rapp
Jake Holden

Talent Report
1. Suzuki
2. Ducati
3. Honda
4. Kawasaki

Privateers
1. Jordan Suzuki
2. Lion Racing
3. KWS Motorsport

Best Bikes
Suzuki GSX-R1000 K5
Honda CBR1000RR
Ducati 999R F06
Kawasaki ZX-10R

Who's going to challenge Mladin?
1. Ben Spies
2. Ben Bostrom
3. Jake Zemke
4. Neil Hodgson

[Kaan]

Your "Who's going to challenge Mladin?" should read more like
1. Yates
2. Bostrom
3. Roger Lee
4. Hodgson

Crashing out is going to be the theme... and its going to mix alot of stuff up and i really think it will be CRAZY close for the championship as the season closes out.

[G.Irish]

Well, Yates broke his shoulder at the Fontana test earlier this week and Spies beat him last year on the same bike in his rookie season. Yates may finish well this year but I don't think he has the goods to actually take the fight to Mladin.

Quite frankly I have to wonder if Spies has it either, because he is running Superbike and Supersport. I'm of the opinion that if the number 1 guy is whooping your ass you need to hunker down and concentrate on beating him. If Spies beat Mladin head to head it would be his ticket to World Superbike or Moto GP.

At the Fontana test Spies spent most of his time on the 600, which is not what he should be doing if he wants to beat Mladin. Both Honda riders won't be returning to Formula Xtreme this season for that very reason. Both Ducati guys only run one class too (although that might have to do with budget too).

[G.Irish]

TEAMS
Yoshimura Suzuki

They're the reigning champions and have won the last 3 championships in a row at the hand of Mat Mladin. The GSX-R1000 K5 is still the bike to beat, having won both the AMA and World Superbike championships while amassing many other wins around the world.

In preseason testing the Gixxer has been anywhere from .5 to a full second faster than the next fastest bike which has been the Ducati of Ben Bostrom on more than one occasion.

At this point the only way any of the other manufacturers are going to be able to unseat Suzuki is if they can mount a massive development effort over the course of the season. For come from behind championship wins, Honda probably has the best chance.

Ducati Austin

Ducati was the only other manufacturer to get wins last season with 3 coming from Eric Bostrom and 1 from former World Superbike Champion and Moto GP racer, Neil Hodgson. Eboz opted not to resign with Ducati and instead signed with Yamaha to run Superstock and Formula Xtreme. Don't ask why because I don't get it either.

Both Ben Bostrom and Neil Hodgson have extensive experience racing the Italian V-twins and I imagine both of them will see some success next season. Ben just came off a horrid season in WSBK with a privateer team and should be eager to get back to the business of being competitive. Indeed, during the first preseason tests he's been number 2 on the time sheets behind Mladin and Spies.

American Honda

Last season saw Honda riders Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke finish 5th and 11th in the championship respectively, a tough pill to swallow after finishing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in 2004 (BBoz was the third rider).

The reason for the team's precipitous fall from grace was that 2005 was the first season the American Honda squad developed their bikes completely in house. In the past HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) headed up the development and leased the bikes and parts to the American Honda boys. <read the interview on VTEC.NET that I did to get more on the HRC/American Honda stuff: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://vtec.net/articles/view-article?article_id=422867&page_number=1">http://vtec.net/articles/view-article?a ... e_number=1</a><!-- m --> >

Towards the end of last season it seemed that the American Honda guys were finally getting their stride and they've picked up where they left off in the preseason. While not taking any fastest laps they are within podium range for sure.

A significant development for the American Honda team is that Duhamel and Zemke will not be contesting FX in addition to Superbike this season. They have instead opted to concentrate on Superbike, a smart move if you want to beat Mladin.

Team Kawasaki

For the last couple of years, 2 of the "big 4" motorcycle makers have been conspicuously absent from Superbike. Kawasaki, having received assurances that the Superbike rules will be stable for at least 3 years, has decided to remove themselves from the shame of wussing out of Superbike.

Right now the US Kawasaki Superbike team is the only factory Superbike team Kawasaki is running in the world (unless there's a Japanese SBK team I don't know about). This could very well point to them getting excellent support from the factory. True to form, the Hayden boys have been out to Japan to help develop the bikes and Kawasaki has even sent one of their test riders to the US to aid in the effort.

During preseason testing the Haydens started out posting the slowest of the factory rider times but now they are poking into the top five and even the top three. My prediction is that early in the season they will be around top five but by about midway they should be on the box and possibly could challenge for wins.

[Evan]

question is.... will GSXR > * again this year?

AMA SB was boooring last year. I used to watch it over WSB and MotoGP but that changed because it was such a snoozer

Personally Im rooting for Hodgson (one of my fave riders, real class act) and the kawi team

[G.Irish]

Well WSBK got really boring after 2002 but 2005 was a blockbuster year. I have to say it was probably the best racing around period. 2006 should be no different.

Hard to say how things will shake out in AMA this year. Honda falling down on the job last season really made it a poor show. This season I think the Kawasakis will be a story to watch and hopefully Honda and Ducati will be strong enough to make Mladin actually have to dice with people.