Don’t you just love it when a rider arrives on the scene to ruffle the feathers of the established stars? Pedro Acosta did just that at the start of the MotoGP™ season, while another former Red Bull Rookies star is blowing them away in WorldSBK.
My friends and journalistic colleagues had only one topic of conversation when they returned from the British round of WorldSBK at Donington Park last month. They could not wait to tell me just how impressed and excited they had been watching Toprak Razgatliogu in action around the historic venue.
The 27-year-old Turkish BMW rider simply blew the opposition away. A week later he repeated the dose at Most in the Czech Republic – that was his tenth successive WorldSBK victory. This weekend he had another clean sweep in Portimao and has won a record-breaking 13 consecutive races. He now the leads the super-competitive Championship by a massive 92 points.
If and when the Championship leader moves to MotoGP™, those lucky to witness him in action at Donington believe he is the rider to rewrite the history books. No WorldSBK Champion has won the MotoGP™ World Championship. Indeed, only two have won premier class Grands Prix. Injuries, bad luck and circumstances mean that only Ben Spies and Troy Bayliss have taken the chequered flag in MotoGP™.
American Spies always looked the most likely. Just two years after being crowned WorldSBK Champion he won the 2011 Dutch TT. Spies finished fifth in the World Championship that year, but injuries wrecked his MotoGP™ prospects and brought about a premature retirement. Australian Troy Bayliss returned for a one-off MotoGP™ ride at Valencia in 2006. The reigning WorldSBK Champion replaced the injured Sete Gibernau at Ducati. While the world focused on the Hayden/Rossi battle for the title, Bayliss pulled off a historic victory. With Loris Capirossi in second place, Ducati achieved their first-ever 1-2 Grand Prix finish.
That was that, and with only Colin Edwards coming close. The double WorldSBK Champion switched to MotoGP™ in 2003. In a career that spanned 11 years, ‘The Texas Tornado’ finished on the MotoGP™ podium 12 times, finished fourth in the 2005 World Championship but never won a Grand Prix – scant reward for such a brilliant rider.
I remember interviewing Colin in 2004 when the 2003 WorldSBK Champion Neil Hodgson was contemplating a return to MotoGP™. Colin urged Neil to return as soon as possible because he realised he had left it too long before switching Championships. Double WorldSBK Champion James Toseland moved into MotoGP™ in 2008. After an encouraging start, unfortunately, he was beset by injuries and never finished on the podium.
Some great WorldSBK Champions never made the move. Carl Fogarty and Jonathan Rea would have surely flourished but lack of suitable opportunities and machinery prevented them. Their performances as wildcards showed just what a threat they would have been to the established stars, but only on competitive MotoGP™ machinery. Switching from a Championship where you are the King, making a very comfortable living, has to be the correct move into the unknown.
Five times 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan won a couple of WorldSBK rounds in Australia and Japan before embarking on his title-winning premier class career. Cal Crutchlow won the WorldSSP title and WorldSBK races before switching to MotoGP™ in 2011. He won three MotoGP Grands Prix before retiring three years ago. The likes of 250cc World Champions and MotoGP Grands Prix winners Max Biaggi and John Kocinski made the reverse trip to win WorldSBK titles.
It is so easy to get carried away and this season in both Championships still has a long journey ahead before conclusion. However, a little bit of dreaming never did any harm, records are there to be broken.
