World Superbikes 2021. Thoughts, predictions

[weeksy]

It's a bit of a topsy turvy one in some ways, but the main protaganists must still surely be Redding and Rea ?

Anyone else coming into the melting pot this season overall with some of the changes ?

Chas moving to the 2nd Ducati team with Rinaldi to the factory Ducati, there's got to be a bit of needle there...

Rabat onto the Barni Ducati as an outside bet, he's still a fast boy that's for sure.

Haslam and Bautista to continue their improvements ?

[Skub]

I'd expect Redding will be wanting to up his game this year,which will mean metronomic consistency.

The Yamaha riders of Gerloff and Toprak will be fast out of the box. The new boy Nozane is an unknown quantity for me,hopefully a new star in the making. Locatelli stepping up will be interesting too.

Honda will be wanting to see results with Bautista this year and were really starting to shape up last season.

I don't have much faith in BMW putting out a bike to win the championship,but VDM won't be too shy to try.

Tito Rabat must be on his last hurrah,he was unbeatable in Moto2,then it didn't happen for him in MotoGP,almost painful to watch.

Team K and Rea will be the squad to beat as usual. I hope Alex Lowes can string together a good season. The only ray of light for the others on the grid is the ZX10R is a new bike and may take a while to dial in for all the circuits.

[Yorick]

Michael Ruben Rinaldi might be the fly in the ointment.

Obviously I want Scotty to win

[Skub]

Michael Ruben Rinaldi might be the fly in the ointment.

Obviously I want Scotty to win

I forgot about Rinaldi Doh! Yeah,he'll be quick for sure.

[weeksy]

https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/950709/ ... rldsbk-bow

Tito Rabat promised '99% factory' Ducati material if competitive on WorldSBK bow

Tito Rabat will ride a '99% factory' Ducati Panigale V4 R for the 2021 WorldSBK season after becoming the latest to make the switch from MotoGP.
Tito Rabat says he will be rewarded with the ‘top material’ from Ducati if he proves competitive during his maiden WorldSBK Championship season in 2021.

The 2014 Moto2 World Champion becomes the latest rider to make the switch from MotoGP to WorldSBK after being edged out of his Avintia Ducati ride following a disappointing season that yielded a best finish of only 11th position.

[Skub]

Folk forget just how quick Tito was in Moto2. If he clicks with the big Ducati,he'll be a force. I don't expect him to be a mid fielder,he'll either be brilliant or crap.

[weeksy]

You're deffo right there Skub, he was a beast in Moto2..

83 starts with 13 wins and 33 podiums and 16 poles... That's non too shabby.

[lostboy]

Folk forget just how quick Tito was in Moto2. If he clicks with the big Ducati,he'll be a force. I don't expect him to be a mid fielder,he'll either be brilliant or crap.

And also how few decent rides there are in MotoGP as he never got one and was therefore relegated to the mid/back of the field. Same can be said for Luthi. Dominant on Moto2 (as was Iannone) and yet without a stellar ride in MotoGP had to return - where he found that the class had moved on and he was a midfield runner!

Timing is everything!

[Tricky]

Folk forget just how quick Tito was in Moto2. If he clicks with the big Ducati,he'll be a force. I don't expect him to be a mid fielder,he'll either be brilliant or crap.

Agree with that 100%, although I pretty much expected same sort of thing with Caricasulo last year- he was probably the biggest disappointment for me, expected him to show a lot more based on his form on the 600s, but he never really cut it on the R1

[Skub]

A new circuit and revised calendar for this year.

https://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/2021/C ... 5&jb=15008

Following a further modification to the 2021 season, a new circuit will join the calendar as the Circuito de Navarra becomes the fifth Round of the 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. Located in Los Arcos, in the north of Spain, the Circuito de Navarra was opened in 2010 and has already hosted events for both national and international level competition. The Spanish circuit will host, from the 20th to the 22nd of August, WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes.

MotorLand Aragon will now host the opening Round of the 2021 calendar from the 21st to the 23rd of May, due to the postponement of the Estoril Round, initially scheduled to be held from the 7th to 9th of May. All parties involved are working hard to confirm a new date for the event.

[Flux]

I'd really like to see Chaz do well, wonder how close his bike will be to the factory effort?

[weeksy]

I'd really like to see Chaz do well, wonder how close his bike will be to the factory effort?

I got the impression from Rinaldi last year it was damn close. But, will that be enough for him? Well, maybe for the odd podium/win, sure. But a title, I'm not seeing it