For a time this season it looked like there was going to be a largely unexpected Suzuki whitewash, with all the others simply unable to get on par with the stingingly fast GSX-R, and the combination of battling-top Yukio Kagayama and experienced-on-top Troy Corser. For weekend after weekend the rest of them weren't so much not at the pictures as not even in the queue outside. With half the season gone (always a nice time for reflection) it's clear now that if the Suzuki and Suzuki rider combination do have any advantages left, they are not ones which seem to be enough to guarantee wins. Or, to put it simply, we are now at the position of relative unpredictability we should have started the season in.
The changing podium positions in the last few rounds are not so much down to any noticeable drop-off in performance from the GSX-R or team, but more a case of others catching up, at tout vitesse it has to be said for some of them.
Both Ducati and Honda are close to fully up to speed now, but there are two major manufacturers that have struggled to come to terms with things all year long. First off, Kawasaki have seen their radical and critically acclaimed ZX-10R unable to make a consistent jump in performance to the highest levels, as much through what is effectively a one-rider strategy (step forward Mr Walker) as the background politics and budgets of running two teams, each with different equipment and tuners, and without as much factory backing as Honda or Suzuki.
Now we come to the curious case of the massed Yamaha hordes. Fast pre-season (at least the satellite teams were) they have almost all disappointed in race conditions. Compared to other manufacturers Yamaha Motor Italia did get a slightly later 'green for go' on their SBK project, even if they had been building up to it in any case.Fact is, despite the odd flash of excellence from Haga, the admirable work rate and pugilism of Pitt and the fleeting raceday on the pace garnered by Abe, Yamaha has struggled longest of the Superbike hordes. To us standing outside the direct ping of the big tuning fork there seem to be two main reasons for this, one technical, the other - shared with Kawasaki - more loosely based on preparation time.
First of all Yamaha seem to have struggled harder with the marriage of tyre and machine than most, and they certainly seem to find their bikes more finicky to choose race tyres for than all the others. This leads to detrimental corner exit, corner entry and a more rapid drop-off in performance in real race situations.
The second reason is MotoGP. With so much effort being mustered in the GP stratosphere, and still with no direct SBK factory link for any of the top manufacturers, SBK projects have appeared to suffer. With Yamaha throwing quite so much behind the Tavullia tearaway, it seems their SBK project - based through the wall of the same workshop near Monza as the Gauloises MotoGP team - has been affected more than most, despite the acknowledged talents of all involved.
Come together
The return of Misano to its traditional midsummer placement on the calendar, and the sand-between-your-toes feeling it gives to all involved, brought out the human side of SBK racing. Not that it normally takes much for the human touch to be appreciated, such is the direct presence of punters in the paddock, riders happily available for media and public events and the overall feeling that there are not too many top player's heads wedged up too many internal firmaments. From the start of the weekend, with a beach volleyball tournament between SBK riders, WSS riders and media held on Frankie Chili's beach in Misano, through the intense on-track action, right on to the usual long parties in the paddock on Sunday night, the human element - fallible as well as fabulous - was much in evidence.
Whatever the fluctuating strengths and weaknesses of World Superbike racing in any one year, it's always a Peoples' Palace, never an Ivory Tower.
