New world 2021 superbike champion toprak
Discussion
Its gone under the radar as this isn't really a motorcycle racing forum but we have a new WSBK champ after the dominant Rea era.
He took on and beat the unbeatable 6x champion.
This has been the most exciting racing series compared to motogp this year. A lot of VFM for the fans with 3 races a weekend.
Must be exhausting.
He took on and beat the unbeatable 6x champion.
This has been the most exciting racing series compared to motogp this year. A lot of VFM for the fans with 3 races a weekend.
Must be exhausting.
He has skills that guy. His pass on lap 10 (?) on Rea while completely crossed up was amazing (good avoidance work by Rea). to have that much confidence/ability on the front brake is special.
Sometimes over the line but mostly clean.
Yam must be loving it.
Kind of wish he was off to Moto GP as he'd ruffle a few feathers but WSBK has been great because of him, scott and Rea so happy he's in the wbsk paddock for another year.
Sometimes over the line but mostly clean.
Yam must be loving it.
Kind of wish he was off to Moto GP as he'd ruffle a few feathers but WSBK has been great because of him, scott and Rea so happy he's in the wbsk paddock for another year.
Edited by joema on Monday 22 November 12:25
The problem for him moving to MotoGP is several fold, but, FWIW, whilst he may be demon on the brakes, i am not sure the super agressive style will suit the Yam moto GP bike, everyone on it seems to have to be smooth as silk. DUcati maybe too, he may be too agressive for ti.
The old Honda on the other hand.....
The old Honda on the other hand.....
It's not necessarily that he has an aggressive style. It's that he makes time up on the brakes, hence Rea and Redding have struggled against him. Making that time up on the brakes needs a friendly bike. The yam GP bike has a solid front end so I think he should be ok.
Agree on the Honda though, probably the only person other than Marc that would be able to ride it.
Agree on the Honda though, probably the only person other than Marc that would be able to ride it.
I stopped watching MotoGP, due to it being a borefest on the whole and the coverage and presentation from ITV was shocking. WSB this year has been amazing, we've really seen the gladiators go for it, and tbh I admired Rea as a champ but seeing fight to defend his title was at times beyond the boundary of normal racers.
I'm a motorcycle rider but not a follower of racing so this to me, was an amazing season as it allowed me to see Toprak without knowing much about him, and to my untrained eye I think I have seen a unique style to him. Bring it on for next season, this and F1 were the race series to follow.
Oh, and a word for Scott Redding, another who just never gave up and raced hard but fair.
I'm a motorcycle rider but not a follower of racing so this to me, was an amazing season as it allowed me to see Toprak without knowing much about him, and to my untrained eye I think I have seen a unique style to him. Bring it on for next season, this and F1 were the race series to follow.
Oh, and a word for Scott Redding, another who just never gave up and raced hard but fair.
joema said:
It's not necessarily that he has an aggressive style. It's that he makes time up on the brakes, hence Rea and Redding have struggled against him. Making that time up on the brakes needs a friendly bike. The yam GP bike has a solid front end so I think he should be ok.
Agree on the Honda though, probably the only person other than Marc that would be able to ride it.
Might have something to do with the Turkish lot training on road racing bikes on tarmac - pit bikes, Supersport 300 & 600. Lots of the other training philosophies are dirt track based getting confident sliding the back on the power. Agree on the Honda though, probably the only person other than Marc that would be able to ride it.
Toprak’s feel trailing the brakes into the corner and still make the apex is on another level to everyone else at WSB. Roll on contract’s with fizzy drinks chaps sorting themselves out so he can get into MotoGP.
I think it's been a great championship with a nice edge to it, along with fearsome competition between the three teams it's been excellent.
I lost interest in Moto GP with the adoption of the wings/improvement in the carbon brakes & the fact they look so odd, but it's the shortend braking distances in Moto GP that for me means it has lost the one thing that made it great & that was the overtaking.
I lost interest in Moto GP with the adoption of the wings/improvement in the carbon brakes & the fact they look so odd, but it's the shortend braking distances in Moto GP that for me means it has lost the one thing that made it great & that was the overtaking.
It has been a fascinating year of racing with Toprak & Rea going wheel to wheel.. There’s a lot of respect between these guys, it was great to see how Jonathan congratulated Toprak on becoming WSBK champion. Classy guy. Can’t wait for next year. I for one am glad TR is staying in WBSK..
Toprak is a great skill, and a worthy champion.
It's been an odd year though, contact with your opponent has become the norm, but crossing the curb a tiny amount is now deemed unacceptable. It's not unique to WSB as most motorsport seems to be having the same "issues" with rules, it's a shame common sense has gone.
I also wonder if Kawasaki will be allowed their extra revs next year, that they weren't this year, now that the run of successive championships has been broken. The reasons for not allowing them were subjective IMO. Maybe it wouldn't have changed anything....maybe it would...we'll never know.
It's been an odd year though, contact with your opponent has become the norm, but crossing the curb a tiny amount is now deemed unacceptable. It's not unique to WSB as most motorsport seems to be having the same "issues" with rules, it's a shame common sense has gone.
I also wonder if Kawasaki will be allowed their extra revs next year, that they weren't this year, now that the run of successive championships has been broken. The reasons for not allowing them were subjective IMO. Maybe it wouldn't have changed anything....maybe it would...we'll never know.
Rob 131 Sport said:
Congratulations to Toprak and well deserved. Ideally he should go to Moto GP and Tarran Mackenzie should take his WSBK seat.
It appears Toprak has actually turned down a Petronas SRT MotoGP ride. So his heart remains in WSB for now..https://the-race.com/motogp/the-curious-logic-behind-a-shock-2022-motogp-snub/
Fire99 said:
Rob 131 Sport said:
Congratulations to Toprak and well deserved. Ideally he should go to Moto GP and Tarran Mackenzie should take his WSBK seat.
It appears Toprak has actually turned down a Petronas SRT MotoGP ride. So his heart remains in WSB for now..https://the-race.com/motogp/the-curious-logic-behind-a-shock-2022-motogp-snub/
But MotoGP?? Won't happen I believe. Too little to win, too much to lose.
He's a Superstar in Turkey, run by Keenan who's managing his career and is well connected in the Turkish home market sponsorship game.
The differences between the WSBK bikes and MotoGP prototypes is like night and day, do we really think he'll be able to throw a MotoGP bike around like he does the R1?? not a chance. Carbon brakes, small stroke suspension, seamless gearboxes just won't enable him to be the rider he is.
Then which top level Factory team is going to throw out one of their riders for him??
He might get the occasional "testing" invite but that'll be as far as it goes, from both parties I reckon...
So why disappear into MotoGP on a mid field or worse spec bike to be an also-ran when you can be a Superstar in WSBK....
Steve Bass said:
Fire99 said:
Rob 131 Sport said:
Congratulations to Toprak and well deserved. Ideally he should go to Moto GP and Tarran Mackenzie should take his WSBK seat.
It appears Toprak has actually turned down a Petronas SRT MotoGP ride. So his heart remains in WSB for now..https://the-race.com/motogp/the-curious-logic-behind-a-shock-2022-motogp-snub/
But MotoGP?? Won't happen I believe. Too little to win, too much to lose.
He's a Superstar in Turkey, run by Keenan who's managing his career and is well connected in the Turkish home market sponsorship game.
The differences between the WSBK bikes and MotoGP prototypes is like night and day, do we really think he'll be able to throw a MotoGP bike around like he does the R1?? not a chance. Carbon brakes, small stroke suspension, seamless gearboxes just won't enable him to be the rider he is.
Then which top level Factory team is going to throw out one of their riders for him??
He might get the occasional "testing" invite but that'll be as far as it goes, from both parties I reckon...
So why disappear into MotoGP on a mid field or worse spec bike to be an also-ran when you can be a Superstar in WSBK....
Plus, and this is a contentious point : He's a Muslim, and Dorna will be bending over backwards to get a Muslim in top flight racing as it brings in a massive chunk of their global target audience demographic.
Just like they'll be looking for a 'person of colour' if that's what you call it now days as that brings in a whole new audience too, and is already starting with the young Brit Whatley in Moto3 (although he's also a very good rider, so I'm not suggesting in any way that's why he got the ride before the PC brigade jump on my back)
It's unclear whether JR will get his rev cap removed next year, as that'd also mean he'd clear up again, which would make for boring racing.
Like it or not, WSBK, just like MotoGP, is a massive production created to bring in viewers and sponsors as a money making machine, and Dorna stitching KRT up with that late rev limit made racing close again this year
I think it's fair to say that WSBK this year has been one of the best years for bloody ages, and I've enjoyed it more than GP fairly often
trevalvole said:
How about not putting spoilers in the headline of a post next time?
Yea, I was a bit disappointed too - I didn't get the highlights on Quest until yesterday. 
Still it was great to see Rea get some proper competition this year and he seemed pretty gracious in defeat!
But Toprak definitely deserved his title.
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