Was nice to hear the Midweek Motorsport crew doing their 2007 predictions today, and it reminded me to put my own predictions together...
MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa
Why: A year in MotoGP, plus the new smaller 800s will suit him.
World Rally Championship: Marcus Gronholm
Why: Loeb will struggle with the new Citroen.
Formula 1: Kimi Raikonnen
Why: Alonso will be slower in the McLaren.
World Superbike: Noriyuki Haga
Why: That new Yamaha with the adjustable intake will be fast.
AMA Superbike: Eric Bostrom
Why: Same reason as Haga - that new Yamaha.
British Touring Cars: Jason Plato
Why: SEAT know Super 2000-spec cars better than anyone.
Champcar: Justin Wilson
Why: Bourdais will be dreaming of F1, da Matta is still out, Allmendinger is gone.
World Touring Cars: Jorg Muller
Why: Priaulx's lucky run is over.
DTM: Gary Paffett (as long as he gets an '07 car)
Why: He's angry and he's won it before.
V8 Supercars: Mark Skaife
Why: He used up all his bad luck in 2006.
British Superbike: Chris Walker (that's a purely emotional choice by the way)
Why: Not sure, something to do with wanting to win again.
IRL: Helio Castroneves (unless Andretti Green get things figured out, in which case I'd say Tony Kanaan)
Why: Because Andretti Green haven't got things figured out yet.
NASCAR: Kevin Harvick
Why: Look at his '06 stats - he knows how to win.
ALMS P1: Champion Audi (if they're there)
Why: Because they have no real competition
ALMS P2: Dyson Porsche (but will probably be Penske Porsche)
Why: Best Porsche driver line-up and they'll be faster than Acura.
ALMS GT1: Corvette (ugh)
Why: They have a cheater car not really based on a road car.
ALMS GT2: Flying Lizard Porsche
Why: It's fast new Porsche that should beat the Ferraris and Bergmeister is on board.
LMES P1: Peugeot (unless Audi comes in, in which case Audi)
Why: ACO rules favour diesels right now and Peugeot have the budget to win.
LMES P2: Barazi Epsilon
Why: Long shot, but their new Zytek might be quick.
LMES GT1: Oreca Saleen
Why: Most professional outfit in GT1 (yes, better than Larbre).
LMES GT2: Team LNT Panoz
Why: Lack of truly dedicated Porsche or Ferrari competition.
Le Mans P1: Audi
Why: Peugeot is too new to win this year.
Le Mans P2: Dyson (if they're there, if not I'll say RML MG-Lola)
Why: The Porsche is the fastest P2 car these days.
Le Mans GT1: Aston
Why: The law of averages - they have to win it once....
Le Mans GT2: Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari
Why: They're very good and know 24 hour races (Spa for example)
Grand Am Daytona Prototypes: Howard-Boss Pontiac-Crawford
Why: I'm no expert but the team is well-established with good drivers.
Japanese SuperGT: Do I look crazy? Absolutely impossible to predict a winner here but I'll narrow it down to either of the factory NSXs, either of the factory Nissans and either the Cerumo or Tom's Lexus. So there.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
2007 Predictions
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3 comments:
Nice idea, predictions. But you're wrong about Pedrosa. He definitely suits the Honda, but he has two problems:
- The Honda RC212V is lagging behind in development. They'll catch up, but it'll take a few races;
- Rossi is on a mission. He lost his title, and nothing motivates Rossi like a challenge.
Plus, Pedrosa will be facing all the voodoo that Rossi can muster. It's going to be great...
Good stuff - send these to Studio@0157.org Keep listening - I need to know more about your new reporting duties and the Music..
john Hindhaugh
Radio Le MAns
You missed some!
World Kart Championship - Gary Catt @ Tonykart. This is a one-event championship and if the weather is dry he will win because he will lose his job if he doesn't win big soon. The engines are changing to a more reliable format so his major downfall of seizing twice every weekend will be gone.
European Kart Championship - Michael Christensen @ PDB GIllard (unless another team poaches him). Catty still won't be reliable enough to win a multi-race championship and another win from his team-mate Marco Ardigo is too boring to contemplate. Christensen has the kart, his engine (Parilla) will be the best in the new formula and he's at the right stage in his career to do it.
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