Our trained World Superbike reporter, Kent Brockman, has his eye on the World Superbike Paddock, and is ever vigil for the next big braking breaking story.

Submitting a lengthy preview of what to expect from the 2017 WorldSBK season, we have broken it up into two parts in order to make more money whet your appetite ahead of this weekend’s season-opener at Phillip Island. -JB

Getting Tucked In…

Most world-class riders fit a certain mold and that mold typically extends to being about 5’10” in height. Chaz Davies and Leon Camier fall considerably outside that criterium, with both riders in excess of six feet tall, and with that comes inherit challenges for both men.

Most racing motorcycles are small and compact, with fairings to push through the air as efficiently as possible – being a rider with a larger frame obviously makes it more difficult to get into the correct position on the bike, to shelter from the wind, and to be as aerodynamic as possible.

Both riders have raced in 125GP, MotoGP, WorldSSP, and WorldSBK and as they grew, they learned to adapt and understand exactly what they need to do to shield themselves from the wind.

“It’s not easy, but I’ve done it for fifteen years now, so it has become second nature for me,” said six-footer Davies. “You do have to work that bit harder and I think you do get penalized a little bit for being a bigger rider in terms of outright speed.”

“It’s a challenge, but it’s one I’ve been used to. You can adapt the bike to try and make it a bit easier. The bad days were when you’re riding bikes that you’ve got no choice over what bits come on them.

“But, the luxury of being in a factory team is that they will try and find solutions to your problems. You’re spoiled, but it’s sort of the way it needs to be to get comfortable on the bike. It’s a challenge, but one I’m used to.”

For the slightly taller Camier, the challenge is more extreme – but because he has been conscious of the problem, he feels that he has actually made it into a strength.

Understanding the problem is always the first step towards finding a solution, and the Englishman feels that he is far more efficient than many of his smaller rivals.

“Ergonomically I think I’m pretty good,” said the MV Agusta rider. “If you see how I get tucked in, I don’t think there’s anyone more out of the wind than me.”

“That’s not the problem for me. It’s more trying to lower the center of gravity because I’m a little heavier. The only time I worked on my tuck positions was when I went to MotoGP on that Honda with Aspar in 2014.”

“That bike was so small, and for some reason they didn’t want to change the foot peg position on the bike. So I had to work a lot on mobility and ankle mobility basically just to fold myself into the thing. But, I still managed to get tucked in really good.”

“So that’s something I’ve worked on a long time ago, and I’ve always been pretty good at. It’s not a problem. I’m usually pretty comfortable when I’m in the straights, but I’m always conscious of it.”

Having that flexibility is key for any rider, and the main reason that we see most of the riders placing more and more importance on stretching and yoga rather than lifting weights or endurance training.

Davies and Camier are as supple as any athlete, and it’s something that Davies feels give them an advantage on the bike.

“I’m quite lucky that I am as flexible as I am,” said the Welshman. “I can stretch and basically put my head between my knees. So I am quite flexible in that way. I can double myself over quite easily. I see some riders who are a lot shorter than me and their shoulders are sticking out into the wind on the straights.

“They couldn’t double over to save their lives and it shows on the bike. I think a lot of it depends a bit on your genetics as well. It’s not only flexibility, but where you can bend.”

“Some riders have got short bottom halves and long top halves or vice versa. It all makes a difference. But I think luckily for me and Leon we’re both quite flexible and we can get into a good position on the bike.”

“In WorldSBK the regulations say that the fairings have to be within a certain percentage of the road bike fairing and it’s difficult for the team to change much.”

“They can’t add a little bit of bodywork to the side or work on the aerodynamics – it really is what comes on the road bike plus or minus a couple of centimetres, which really don’t make enough difference for a tall rider. So you really need to concentrate on being as efficient as possible.”

Always the Bridesmaid Never the Bride

The last three years have been challenging for Eugene Laverty. After his nine-win 2013 WorldSBK campaign, he was unceremoniously dumped by Aprilia and forced to pick up the pieces with an uncompetitive Suzuki.

A win at the season-opening race in Philip Island sparked hopes of a strong campaign, but ultimately from that point onwards the Irishman was left struggling – and finished a crash-marred campaign tenth in the standings.

On the surface, his time in MotoGP was scarcely better, but after two years he feels a much more complete rider, and one ready to grab his opportunity on the Milwaukee Aprilia with both hands.

“I think that I’ve changed over the last couple of years in MotoGP,” said the Irishman. “We’ve seen over the last couple of years consistency is so important in WorldSBK.”

“It’s how Johnny has won his titles. It’s a long year with 26 races, and it’s so important to be getting to the chequered flag every race. It’s not just about race wins, and I think that’s been the good thing about being in MotoGP.”

“On any given weekend maybe being 11th position was the best that I could achieve, so being able to finish 11th was a good result for me. Accepting that was actually really good for my mindset because I was too eager to win races when I was last in WorldSBK.”

“In 2013, in the first half of the season, I had some breakdowns and it meant that I was always playing catch-up. That caused me to start making errors at the wrong time. I think I’ve learned from that, and that’s what experience gives you. You learn from your mistakes, and riding around mid-pack in MotoGP’s only helped that further.”

Laverty’s speed has never been in doubt, and while it was masked in recent years by uncompetitive machinery, he is very much a known quantity in the WorldSBK paddock.

His 13 race wins in the class, not to mention 12 wins over two full World Supersport campaigns, means that he’ll have expectations of being competitive from the outset.

He is also realistic about the competition that he will face this year, with WorldSBK arguably in its rudest state of health in recent memory.

“I think this is the best year for the championship in a long time. You’ve had some really great riders in there as always in WorldSBK, but the machinery and factory support is returning too.”

“Yamaha looks to be coming together and getting more factory support, Honda has a new bike, Aprilia are coming back. It’s always been great riders. I think they’ve been underestimated definitely by the outside world. They don’t realize how fast the riders are here.”

With Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea having dominated the 2016 season, and taking 20 wins from the 26 races, facing up to that level of competition is daunting for most of the grid and something that Laverty isn’t shying away from.

Having raced against both throughout his career and known them most of his racing life, the 30-year-old spoke about both rivals.

“They’ve moved forward in the last few years, particularly Chaz. He’s a smart rider and he’s kept working at it and being with the same team gives him the continuity he never had before.”

“What Chaz did at the end of last year really raised the bar for everyone, and we’re going to have to fight with him. On track, he’s always a late-braker and we’re going to have to do the same if we want to be able to fight with him.”

Far from playing down expectations, Laverty is expecting to fight for the win from the opening race at Phillip Island, and that confidence is shared by his team boss Mick Shanley.

The Englishman said at the conclusion of the European testing programme that, “everybody will have strong expectations about Phillip Island for us. Eugene has always been strong at Phillip Island and the Aprilia has always had a good history there. We’ll go there with a positive attitude.”

While Shanley refused to be drawn on whether the team could fight for the win, his rider had no such qualms. Laverty spoke with steely determination – full of confidence when he clearly stated his goals for the coming campaign as he seeks his first world title.

“We know how strong we can be at Phillip Island with this bike. Leon Haslam had two podiums on the Aprilia in Thailand in 2015, and we’ve been strong at Aragon in the past as well, so for these first three rounds we intend to be there on the podium. I feel a lot more confidence ahead of Phillip Island after this test.”

“We’ve had six days on the bike, and I feel that I’m riding the Pirelli tire exactly as it needs to be ridden, and also riding this bike is big too.”

“I know exactly how the Aprilia should feel around here. When you have that experience of the bike it means that we can realistically expect to fight for wins from the off.”

Davies Brings Ducati Back into the Light

The success of Chaz Davies and Ducati in 2016 flipped the script for what is expected from the Italian manufacturer. It’s been six years since Carlos Checa delivered Ducati a championship, and after having the ignominy of failing to win a single race for two years, Ducati’s resurgence in recent years has been hugely impressive.

Davies has been central to that resurrection, and the Welshman has truly developed into a world-class racer.

His 11 wins in 2016 gave him more than anyone else, and while consistency was a problem in the first half of the year, his form in winning seven of the final eight races laid down a marker for the winter and the coming season.

Having turned its fortunes around, Ducati could be excused for taking stock of the situation with a proud look at themselves in the mirror. If that’s what is happening with anyone in the team though, Davies is quick to bring them back on point and make sure that winning in 2017 is the only thing on their minds.

“What we did in 2016 is done, so it’s all about looking forward and trying to maximize the potential of the Panigale now and get basically get the rest out of it,” said an enthusiastic Davies.

“I’m actually really surprised coming into these tests because you think that the bike is now five years old, and that WorldSBK rules are quite limiting, that it’s quite difficult to make big gains.”

“But we’ve got a bunch of clever people in Ducati, and they come up with ways to improve the bike and improve our package. What’s really important is that nobody’s looking behind. We’re all in for this season and getting the bike even better than it was at the end of last year.”

Last year the title battle distilled down to Davies versus Jonathan Rea, and over the winter it was clear that both are still the leading contenders.

Last year Davies was arguably the faster of the two, but couldn’t match Rea’s consistency. A mid-season setup change helped cure most of the issues for Davies, and he should be able to start the season in strong form.

“I can guarantee that he’s been looking at me over the winter just like I’ve been watching him. He’s got the number one plate on his bike, but there’s so much depth in WorldSBK that we’ve got to keep an eye on the riders outside of us two as well.”

One of the riders that Davies will have to keep an eye on will be his new teammate, Marco Melandri, as the Italian returns to WorldSBK after a two-year hiatus that included a stint in MotoGP.

Working together will be the order of the day, and immediately it was clear that Davies found a good understanding with Melandri about how to work together that had been lacking in the past with Davide Guigliano.

“Marco’s a good teammate, we worked together at BMW, and he pushes hard to develop the bike, and that’s what you’re asking for. Thankfully our comments are quite similar, and our feedback is quite similar generally on a lot of stuff where we’re really close, which is quite amazing really given sort of the size difference of us.”

“I think his record speaks for itself and he’s a hell of a competitor. I like having a strong teammate. Davide kept me on my toes for the last few years and Marco will be no different.”

Away from the track Davies has spent the winter honing his craft and spending more and more time riding a variety of bikes. Based in Andorra, the recently turned 30-year-old has been running and racing with a variety of riders.

“There’s a group of us – we’ve been everywhere really. It’s as much fun as it is training. It’s hard to think of it as training when you’re going out and riding together.”

“I live next door to Leon Camier, and I think it motivates us both to both get out there and put in the work that we need to do. When you also have John McPhee and Michael Laverty it’s really good for us all.”

“It’s good because everybody’s different, and we’ve all got their own ways, but then when we get to the track, we’re all quite evenly matched and we’re all obviously competitive.”

“Myself, John, and Michael now have all got little mini-bikes, and after watching John’s win in Brno last year I said, ‘I need to follow you in the wet because I think I can learn a thing or ten!’ Just little things like that I think that you’re messing around and having fun, but I can see that John has got a lot of feel for a bike in the rain, clearly. I just think I can learn little things from anybody really.”

Those little lessons have paid off in recent years, but for 2017 the expectation will be championship or bust from Davies. That will bring with it a very different set of pressures – but his relaxed demeanour over the course of the winter indicates that he’s ready and waiting to prove his title credentials.

Can We Expect a Great Season?

Jonathan Rea will start the 2017 WorldSBK season as a deserved title favorite, but what can the #1 plated Kawasaki expect from the coming campaign? A much harder time is the most common expectation.

With a grid featuring six world champions, 10 WorldSBK or Grand Prix race winners, and a host of national Superbike champions, this is the strongest field seen in the class for years.

The return of Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty to WorldSBK and the introduction of Stefan Bradl to the series has fuelled tremendous expectation amongst fans. But what about the riders on the grid?

“I think it’s good for WorldSBK,” said Chaz Davies. “I think that it is good having these guys coming in, because I get the feeling that riders have been placed in this championship to shake it up and to kind of show WorldSBK in a different light. We’ve seen world champions from different categories come to the class recently.”

“We’ve got Stefan coming this year as a former Moto2 champion, Nicky is a former MotoGP champion, Melandri won a 250GP championship. When you add in Torres who won a Moto2 race. De Rosa has won in Grand Prix and de Angelis has too – it’s great to see.”

“It doesn’t matter which category you race in in MotoGP, if you’re in that paddock I think you’re regarded higher in that paddock than what a Superbike rider is. Thankfully we know different here, and we know that this championship is at a good level and that the riders are at a very, very good level.”

“It’s great to see good riders come over, but nothing really changes here, and you’ve still got the same guys at the front. I think that’s good because it just adds credibility to the riders in this class and it doesn’t take anything away from us.”

“If somebody came in and wiped the floor with us, we’d have to think that the perceptions from the GP paddock are right. But thankfully it isn’t that way.”

As one of the riders to join the class in recent years, Nicky Hayden offered his perspective.

“I enjoyed last year and coming to WorldSBK,” said Hayden. “I think this year, it’s shaping up to be a better series with a deeper field and more excitement.”

“Somebody needs to get up there and beat the Kawasakis and Ducatis because nobody wants to just see the same riders winning all the races. If you just take the dry races the last three, four years the same three guys have won.”

“Hopefully all of us can get up there and make it more exciting. I think that would be really good for the series.”

Eugene Laverty is one of the riders returning to the class after two years in MotoGP and the 13 times WorldSBK race winner is sure the championship is in a stronger position now compared to when he left it.

“I think that having the likes of Marco back is great for the championship because he is such a big name,” said Laverty. “When he came to WorldSBK, first he fought for titles as well, and after being away it’s going to be interesting to see how he fares.”

“He seems to have changed his character a little bit as well. He seems a bit more relaxed. So who knows? He could be a title contender too. But there’s a lot of fast riders in there now. Last year on the Ducati there was only one rider really capable of winning, and now you’ve got two there so it’s not going to be easy.”

As one of the national Superbike champions, Alex Lowes has seen how difficult it is to make the breakthrough on the world stage. The Yamaha rider is one of many hoping to get into the fight this year – but doesn’t underestimate the challenge he faces.

“It’s tough when you’re not winning because everyone wants to be fighting at the front,” said Lowes. “You need to work so hard to get your package right to do your job.”

“I think there’s lot of good riders and a lot of good bikes. So as a team we need to work hard that you can be close to the front than. I think it’s never easy in a world championship and this year is going to be tough as ever I think.”

Tom Sykes, the 2013 WorldSBK title winner, knows what it takes to win the crown and knows how difficult a task it will be to get back to the top of the mountain in 2017.

“I think it’s going to be a strong grid straightaway,” said the Englishman. “The two Kawasakis, two Ducatis will be quick. Obviously Marco was out of the game but he is who is he is and he’s got a great history of racing.”

“He knows how to ride a motorcycle so I’ve had no surprise whatsoever that he’s fast. It looks like the bike is working really well for him.”

“Outside of those four riders, Yamaha seems to have extra development and they’ll have less issues this year so should be strong.”

“Nicky is a MotoGP world champion so he’s strong and hopefully Honda will give him something more. Eugene was a title contender a couple years ago and is back on the same bike. It should be a strong championship. I’m looking forward to it.”

Sykes isn’t the only one looking forward to the 2017 WorldSBK season; it has all the ingredients to be a classic.

Photos: © 2016 Steve English – All Rights Reserved

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