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Moto blog

Why I love BSB's Showdown

It has lovers, haters and even many that still don't understand it but everyone in British bike racing is currently talking about the BSB Showdown.  With my rider's or team manager's hat on, I wasn't convinced when it was first announced in 2010 but I'm now totally converted and enjoy every part of the season as intensity increases.  And being a value for money Scot the best thing is you get four championships under one umbrella.  Championship # 1; In the early rounds everyone on the grid has aspirations of taking the title but as the season progresses, the focus narrows down to making sure you secure that top six showdown spot over the first nineteen races (riders can also drop their worst two results).  Championship #2; For the confident front runners, over these races, the real goal is the podium credit championship (3 for 1st ,2 for 2nd,1 for 3rd) which then gives them a points head start after things are put back to zero for the final seven race shoot-out.  Championship #3; The best of the rest championship (7th and below) that will be battled over the final races. Championship # 4;  Over the final seven races the British Superbike Champion is crowned. The recent adding and reshuffling a few top name riders for the Showdown has already spiced things up so hold on tight for the remaining five races!

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

Schwantz School, the ultimate track experience?

If having one-to-one instruction from an ex-MotoGP World Champion is your dream, then why not put the Schwantz School on your Christmas list for 2012. Ok, it’s in America and slightly more expensive than your average track day ($2750 for two days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) but many satisfied customers will argue this is the best rider training experience in the world. Your hard earned Dollar will see you alternate between the classroom and track from 8am until 4pm, then Kevin will take you on a track tour where he explains riding techniques and answers questions (he even drives the bus).