Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
Once again, like I have said before it is the bike and not the rider that wins the race. Yamaha felt they do not need the reigning world champion to win races and replaced him with a seventh ranked American, Ben Spies.
I disagree. I don't follow SuperBike much, MX is my thing. Suzuki couldn't win a championship for years. McGrath left a winning streak on Honda's and rode for them one year. The championship would have been in the bag except for a fluke flat tire. He switched to Yamaha, and racked up several more championships, until challenged by Carmichael, on Kawasaki at the time. Then Ricky jumped to Honda, continuing to win, and swithched again to Suzuki, smoking everyone in his sights. AMA and FIM attempt to level the playing field with fuel, engine size, suspension and inspections, and that has worked to a point. Bottom line, in any racing situation, there is only so much horsepower, so much fuel, and so much traction that can be obtained. If the rider exploits those variables to the best advantage, he's the winner. The bike has little to do with it. It's 95% rider, 5% bike.