FIM Superbike World Championship Nurburgring, Germany September 4 Race Two Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires): 1. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), 13 laps, 29:49.337 2. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Ducati 1098R), -4.063 seconds 3. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Ducati 1098R), -22.759 4. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), -28.497, crash 5. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Yamaha YZF-R1), -38.374 6. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), -45.326 7. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (BMW S1000RR), -47.030 8. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), -50.032 9. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), -53.586, crash 10. Maxime BERGER, France (Ducati 1098R), -55.261 11. Joan LASCORZ, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -72.805 12. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), -75.468 13. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -100.323 14. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), -1 lap, DNF, crash 15. Makoto TAMADA, Japan (Honda CBR1000RR), -1 lap, DNF, crash 16. Leon CAMIER, Great Britain (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), -2 laps, DNF, crash 17. Mark AITCHISON, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -3 laps, DNF, crash 18. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (BMW S1000RR), -5 laps, DNF, crash 19. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Suzuki GSX-R1000), -8 laps, DNF, retired 20. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), DNS World Championship Point Standings (after 20 of 26 races): 1. Checa, 376 points 2. Melandri, 302 3. Biaggi, 281 4. Laverty, 232 5. Haslam, 176 6. Camier, 154 7. Fabrizio, 141 8. Guintoli, 139 9. Badovini, 134 10. Haga, 115 11. Sykes, 114 12. Rea, 113 13. Lascorz, 111 14. Smrz, 109 15. Corser, 67 16. Xaus, 44 17. Berger, 42 18. Rolfo, 39 19. Aitchison, 24 20. John Hopkins, 20 More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Checa and Sykes trade wins on day of contrasting conditions Nürburgring (Germany), Sunday 4 September 2011 World Championship leader Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) once again showed the reasons why he is out front in the points standings with three rounds to run, after posting an assured win in race one and then holding his nerve in atrociously wet conditions in race two to score points for eighth place all on a day when his main championship rival was ruled out. A new rider also took his place at the top table of WSBK race-winning riders today, and on a new machine in the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Tom Sykes won for the Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike squad in a race in which only 13 riders finished in treacherous track conditions. Sykes is the sixth individual race winner of the 2011 season so far, with three rounds and six races left to run. Title challenging Aprilia Alitalia rider Max Biaggi missed out on raceday altogether after the injury to his left foot he picked up on Friday proved too difficult to overcome, but the new second ranked rider, Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) showed real fighting qualities in dry and wet conditions, scoring second in race one and splashing his way to sixth in the second race, which was shortened because of the rains. A great start to the day for Noriyuki Haga (Pata Aprilia) saw him third ahead of the factory Yamaha of Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) in race one, but then fall from a winning position in race two, caught out by an increase in the intensity of the rain. An excellent day for the privateers saw not one but two Effenbert Liberty Racing Team Ducati riders on the race two podium when Sylvain Guintoli was second and Jakub Smrz third. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) had a good comeback weekend in many ways, topped of by fourth in race two, but his fellow Briton James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK) fell out of contention in race two and suffered a bruised right elbow and a cut on his left elbow. Michel Fabrizio”ƒ(Suzuki Alstare) suffered with a painful right hand after a collision in race one, and finished 16th in the opener, and a retiree in the second. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team). Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) had a fifth and a ninth in BMW’s home races. Race 1 Checa posted a superb opening win, holding off early aggression from eventual podium man Haga before gapping all his pursuers in clinical style. Second was Melandri, Haga was third and then – in an eventually lonely fourth – Melandri’s team-mate Laverty. Haslam had been fifth early on then ran off track, climbing back from 14th place at one stage to re-take fifth. Guintoli was a confident top six finisher, some seven seconds ahead of top Kawasaki man Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) who recovered from a bad start to take Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) over the line. Carlos Checa: “It was a special race for many reasons, and I’d like to dedicate the win to Claudio Castiglioni on behalf of myself, the team and Ducati because this person was a part of this world and thanks to him we are racing with these bikes here. As for me it was a very good race, and it’s one step in front for the championship. I know that I had to make a gap in the early laps, because I was suffering a little on the straight. At the end I was struggling a little with the tyres but the difference was good enough for me to win.” Marco Melandri: “It was a difficult race for me. I had a good start but for the first few laps I wasn’t very fast against Nori and Carlos. I made a small mistake and lost the front under braking, going off the track and coming back fourth. I fought with Eugene, tried to catch Nori, but am very happy to be second today. We did a good job.” Noriyuki Haga: “I really like this track. I was looking for success but at the beginning of race 1 Carlos was very fast. I know how the Ducati works here and I tried to catch up with him. In the race I was at 120% but couldn’t catch him, but I was happy with third at the end. I showed all the world that at over 35 years of age I still have performance!” Results: 1. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 38’59.779 (158,077 kph); 2. Melandri M. (ITA)Yamaha YZF R1 1.855; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2.322; 4. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 7.789; 5. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 9.727; 6. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 10.113; 7. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.226; 8. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 17.228; 9. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 18.166; 10. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 19.457; etc. Race 2 Sykes secured Kawasaki’s first win since 2006, and his own first ever WSBK race victory, when he headed up a shortened 13-lap race at the Nürburgring. Haga had led for virtually the whole race, which was held in wet conditions that ranged from merely wet to completely soaking. When he fell Sykes took the lead and when the rains re-doubled in intensity race direction called the contest, with Sykes ahead of Guintoli and Smrz. Fourth was Rea, who despite a high-speed crash remounted to score good points ahead of fifth placed Laverty and his team-mate Melandri. Tom Sykes: “The first win feels absolutely fantastic, the conditions today were unbelievable! It was good to see the red flag and even better to see it in first position. The bike had a fantastic setting today in the wet from the Paul Bird Motorsport team, the feel was fantastic as well. Fortunately the rains came and I managed to make a gap to Sylvain, it’s great to be back especially after the biggest crash of my career at Silverstone just one month ago!” Sylvain Guintoli: “It was definitely good fun, very dangerous though with a lot of water towards the end. I struggled to stay with Tom, I had to push hard and nearly crashed about 20 times! In the end the rain came down very hard, but the pace was great and I had good fun.” Jakub Smrz: “I think everyone is happy because this was a difficult race, very hectic on the grid because we couldn’t change anything for the wet and I was struggling a lot in the first part of the track. I was lucky, stayed on the bike, made average lap times and in the end I got a podium.” Results: 1. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX-10R 29’49.337 (134,358 kph); 2. Guintoli S. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 4.063; 3. Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 22.759; 4. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 28.497; 5. Laverty E. (IRL) Yamaha YZF R1 38.374; 6. Melandri M. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R1 45.326; 7. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 47.030; 8. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R; 50.032; 9. Haslam L. (GBR) BMW S1000 RR 53.586; 10. Berger M. (FRA) Ducati 1098R 55.261; etc. Points (after 10 of 13 rounds): 1. Checa 376; 2. Melandri 302; 3. Biaggi 281; 4. Laverty 232; 5. Haslam 176; 6. Camier 154; 7: Fabrizio 141; 8. Guintoli 139; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 400; 2. Yamaha 351; 3. Aprilia 336; 4. BMW 214; 5. Kawasaki 171; 6. Suzuki 158; 7. Honda. 132. World Supersport Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) had to summon all his braking ability on the final few laps to prevent the rejuvenated James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) from passing him around the long Nürburgring circuit. Davies held him off to win by only 0.091 seconds, with third placed Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) a lonely 3.7 seconds from the winner. Luca Scassa (Yamaha ParkinGO) went into the top four after a tough battle at times with fifth placed Massimo Roccoli (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki) and sixth place Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda). Broc Parkes (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) and David Salom (Provec Motocard.com Kawasaki) held off Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), with Balazs Nemeth (Hungary Team Toth Honda) going tenth. Results: 1. Davies C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R6 38’10.466 (153,406 kph); 2. Ellison J. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 0.091; 3. Lowes S. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 3.749; 4. Scassa L. (ITA) Yamaha YZF R6 6.269; 5. Roccoli M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 8.702; 6. Foret F. (FRA)Honda CBR600RR 14.034; 7. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 25.943; 8. Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 29.696; etc. Points (after 9 of 12 rounds): 1. Davies 171; 2. Salom 112; 3. Foret 111; 4. Parkes 104; 5. Scassa 96; 6. Lowes 89; 7. Rea 62; 8. Ellison 62; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Yamaha 201; 2. Honda 169; 3. Kawasaki 145; 4. Triumph 24. Superstock 1000 Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) saw his main championship rival Lorenzo Zanetti (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock) finish only fourth in the Nürburgring race, putting Giugliano’s championship challenge back in track. Race winner Giugliano now leads Zanetti 140 points to 117, after a race in which Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock) finished second and Niccolò Canepa (Lazio MotorSport Ducati) went third. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing Team) was forced out with a technical issue while in a strong second place, and therefore Petrucci is ranked third in the championship, on 94 points, Barrier is fourth on 85, with three rounds left to run. Results: 1. Giugliano D. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 22’00.274 (154,078 kph); 2. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW 1000 RR 4.274; 3. Canepa N. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 11.241; 4. Zanetti L. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 11.459; 5. Baroni L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 11.711; 6. Reiterberger M. (GER) BMW S1000 RR 13.169; 7. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 15.742; 8. Morais S. (RSA) Kawasaki ZX-10R 17.441; etc. Points (after 7 of 10 rounds): 1. Giugliano 140; 2. Zanetti 117: 3. Petrucci 94; 4. Barrier 85; 5. Canepa 80; 6. Baroni 57; 7. Antonelli 53; 8. Reiterberger 52; etc. Manufacturers: 1. Ducati 165; 2. BMW 142; 3. Kawasaki 66; 4. Honda 61; 5. Yamaha 16. European Junior Cup In the single make European Junior Cup, with riders all on identical Kawasaki Ninja 250R machines, Australian Matt Davies once more showed his class-leading ability to win from his great rival Tom Busch and third placed Kyran De Lange. Davies now takes a ten point advantage over Busch into the final race at Magny-Cours. More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: DIFFICULT WEEKEND FOR APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM ON THE NURBURGRING. MAX BIAGGI WAS UNABLE TO TAKE PART IN BOTH RACES DUE TO AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE INJURY HE SUSTAINED ON FRIDAY, WHILE LEON CAMIER, AFTER TAKING EIGHTH IN RACE 1, HAD A SLIDING CRASH IN THE HEAVY DOWNPOUR DURING THE SECOND RACE. Nurburgring, September 4th, 2011 The weekend which comes to a close in Nurburgring is one where hard luck and weather got the best of the Aprilia Alitalia team’s efforts. World champion Max Biaggi was forced to sit out both races due to physical conditions: the fracture to the metatarsus in his left foot kept the Corsair from riding onto the track, in spite of both Max’s and the Mobile Clinic doctors’ best efforts. Max cannot help but be disappointed: “I think it must be a Guinness world record to break a foot so badly without crashing! I tried everything I could to get onto the track today, but it was impossible to race under these conditions. The pain was just too severe. I am very disappointed. This is the first race that I’ve missed in 19 years of my career. Unfortunately we don’t have any control over hard luck, which I hope has been satisfied with this weekend because I would really like to finish out the season well”. It was not a particularly happy weekend for Leon Camier either. In the first race the English rider came back from the thirteenth spot on the starting grid to seventh place, crossing the finish line in eighth after a slight error in the very last turn. Race 2, held in torrential rains, kept the riders busy just trying to stay in the saddle, let alone expressing their full potential. Leon, with a fourth place finish in his grasp, could do nothing when his Aprilia RSV4 lost grip in a puddle in a turn on the 12th lap. The red flag came out one lap later to suspend the race. “It was truly dangerous to run Race 2 confirmed Leon There were puddles everywhere, visibility was terribly reduced and the situation got worse lap after lap. Other riders also had trouble in the turn where I slid. There was a virtual river running across the asphalt. It’s a shame, I think they could have stopped the race earlier given the track conditions, but there’s no use complaining about it now”. More, from a press release issued by PATA Racing Team: NitroNori is back. The japanese rider’s been the protagonist during both the Nurburgring races where he achieved a third place in race 1 and where he led a soaked and amazing race 2 until there were only two laps left. Haga confirmed the job done during the past few days. He managed a great start going up to the second place, and there he stayed fighting with Laverty and Melandri. When the italian rider overtook Nori tried to get his position back but without succeed. Late start for race 2 due to heavy rain. After some adjustments settings the riders kicked off and Haga was striking times laps after laps gaining a huge gap over the group. But due to even more heavier rain Nitronori slipped and right after the red flag’s been set out. Noriyuki Haga – ApriliaRSV 4R #41 – “ ‘I’m really happy to be back on top. During race 1 I managed to take advantage of my starting place and everything went great. Then, the minute I began to lost drive, Melandri overtook. I was hoping for a dry race 2 as I was planning some adjustments. Anyway, I found myself pretty good on wet but when it rained heavier It was hard and even though I slowed down, I lost the front tyre. I’m sorry, I wished I could have give the team a win after the earlier podium.” More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: CARLOS CHECA AND THE ALTHEA RACING TEAM TRIUMPH IN RACE 1 AT THE NÃœRBURGRING! Nürburg (Germany), Sunday 4th September 2011: Carlos Checa and the Althea Racing team experienced two very different races today at the Nürburgring; starting from pole position, Checa dominated a dry race one while extremely wet conditions in the second race prevented him from doing better than eighth. The first Superbike race of the day got underway under very cloudy skies but on a fortunately dry track. Carlos, starting from pole for the fifth time this season, made a strong start and was first at the first corner. He had to defend himself from Haga through the first laps but lap by lap he was able to build an advantage over Melandri and Haga behind him. Checa made the fastest lap of the race on lap four (1m55.971), taking his sixth Pirelli fast lap award. From mid-race onwards, his advantage increased and, despite the fact that he lost a little time in the final stages due to excessive tyre wear, he still crossed the line comfortably in first position, 1.8 seconds ahead of Melandri in second. Race 2 was delayed due to the onset of heavy rain just a few minutes prior to the off. Teams had ten minutes in which to swap to rain tyres and prepare for what would be an extremely wet race. Checa, not wanting to take any risks, was in eleventh position through the first corner. During the first half of the race he slowly increased his pace but, seeing several riders crash out ahead of him, he preferred not to push too hard. By the thirteenth lap he had moved up into eighth place and at the conclusion of that same lap race direction took the decision to suspend the race. Carlos thus closed race 2 in eighth position. At the conclusion of this, the tenth round of the championship, Checa continues to lead the rider’s classification with 376 points. He holds a 74 point advantage over Melandri in second position. Ducati continues to lead the constructor’s championship with 400 points to Yamaha’s 351. Carlos Checa: “Today’s first race was very special for me, and signifies my first ever SBK win at the Nürburgring. I would like to dedicate this result to Claudio Castiglioni, he was an extremely important figure in the motorcyling world and it is also in part thanks to him that we are here racing these bikes today. The race 1 result was very important in terms of the championship. I knew that it was important to increase the gap between me and Noriyuki in the first half of the race and this small advantage proved useful in the final stages when I began to suffer from a lack of grip. Race 2 on the other hand was one of the hardest races I’ve ever run. We were obliged to try to finish it of course but I was really suffering due to the sheer quantity of water and track conditions, and couldn’t even see as far as the next corner! I’m sorry for those who took risks and I’m also sorry that Biaggi was not racing with us today. I hope he gets better and that we’ll see him back at Imola. But for us it was a very positive day and I’m very happy with the outcome.” Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager di Althea Racing: “A very positive weekend for us; we have certainly worked very well and are satisfied with the points gained, despite the fact that race 2 didn’t go as it would have done in the dry. Carlos used all of his experience to complete one of the most difficult races of his career and once again demonstrated his great professionalism. From here on in, we’ll simply try not to make mistakes. We’re all very pleased.” More, from a press release issued by Castrol Honda: Solid return for Rea at Nurburgring Jonathan Rea took a tenth and a fourth place finish in today’s two tenth-round World Superbike championship races at Nurburgring in Germany, marking his comeback to racing after three months off through injury. The dry first race was won by series leader, Carlos Checa, with Tom Sykes claiming his maiden World Superbike victory in race two which was declared wet just minutes before the start. Rea started race one from ninth place on the grid and fought his way up to sixth before a lack of drive out of corners dropped him to tenth at the flag. His Castrol Honda team-mate for the German round, Makoto Tamada, suffered from handling issues to finish in 17th position. As torrential rain fell on the 5.137km Nurburgring circuit, Rea began race two from the second row following the withdrawal of Max Biaggi. A good start put the 24-year-old up into second place but clutch issues did not allow him to hold a line into Nurburgring&r squo;s tight first corner and he dropped to fourth. Rea crashed heavily into turn 1 on lap 12 but managed to remount in fifth position before race leader, Noriyuki Haga, crashed out with the race ultimately being red flagged after two thirds distance. Tamada was one of five riders to crash out of race two the Japanese rider having been on course to take championship points in 14th place before high-siding out of contention at turn 11. Jonathan Rea 10th and 4th I was really excited to get back on the bike on Friday after three months off but I struggled to get a rhythm in race one and I had some front grip problems and felt a lack of acceleration out of corners. In race two it rained right on the start, which was then delayed. I crashed out of fourth going into turn one, which was really unfortunate, but luckily I was able to pick the bike up and rejoin in fifth place. When Nori Haga crashed out of the lead I got back to fourth so I was happy with the result. I’m especially happy for the team and, although it’s not a podium or a win, it’s something for the guys who haven’t had a lot to cheer about recently. It’s a bit of motivation to take to the next race, at least! Makoto Tamada 17th and DNF It has been quite a difficult weekend to learn the bike and we have had some problems with chatter since Friday. Unfortunately, we still had some problems in the first race today, which stopped me from getting a better result. In race two the conditions were very bad and sometimes it was very hard to see because the rain was so heavy. I was riding very carefully and trying very hard not to crash but near the end, the rear just let go and then gripped again I was not even on the gas so I’m very sorry for the team. It is a pity because I have enjoyed riding here with the team very much. Ronald ten Kate team manager Of course this was a special weekend for us with Jonathan coming back to ride again. He rode pretty well, but we could all have used some more laps to find some rhythm for him and to resolve the last few set-up issues. He had a solid finish in the first race and it looked as though race two was going to be a really nice topping on a good comeback weekend. It clearly wasn’t meant to be, but he handled the situation really well by picking up the bike, which shows his level of determination. It’s definitely something we can build on for Imola. We were sorry we couldn’t do a test with Makoto Tamada before the weekend here because it was all kind of a last-minute call. In the changing conditions we’ve had over the weekend it was quite difficult for him to find his way round here on a new bike. We’ve really enjoyed working with him though. Now the team will head to Misano for a two-day test where we’ll bring quite a few new parts for the machine to continue preparing for 2012. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsport: Weather conditions: Overcast at noon, heavy rain in the afternoon. Temperature: Air: 20 21 °C, Track: 25 29 °C Number of riders participating: 19 from 13 teams Fastest lap Race 1: Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) 1:55.971 min Fastest lap Race 2: Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) 2:14.6199 min This race day at the Nürburging (GER) was not for the faint-hearted. Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport experienced an exciting tenth round of the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship, including a hectic wet race. Factory rider, Leon Haslam (GBR), finished fifth and ninth on his BMW S 1000 RR. He is now fifth in the riders’ championship with 176 points. His team mate Troy Corser (AUS) came home in 15th and 12th respectively. In the championship he lies 15th with 67 points. In the manufacturers’ standings BMW is fourth with 214 points. In race one Leon improved from seventh on the grid to fifth during the early laps, pushing to close the gap to the leading group. But on lap seven he ran off the track, re-joined but fell back to 14th. After this mishap, Leon fought his way back in a determined manner, setting extremely fast lap times and showing a series of strong manoeuvres. On lap 13 he overtook three other riders at once, and on the final lap he made it back to fifth. Troy improved from 17th on the grid to 11th, but experienced tyre issues in the second half of the race and finished 15th. Only minutes before the start of the second race it began to rain heavily. The start had to be delayed by 15 minutes. Leon again gained two positions in the early stages, but unfortunately he was one of many riders who crashed in the worsening conditions. Again, Leon was able to rejoin and he started another fight back from the very end of the field. As the conditions became more and more dangerous and numerous riders fell, the race was red-flagged on lap 14. Leon and Troy were classified ninth and 12th. Ayrton Badovini (ITA) of the BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team finished the heats ninth and seventh. His team mate James Toseland (GBR) was 13th in the first race, but crashed in the second. The races were won by Carlos Checa and Tom Sykes. In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race BMW riders were once more successful, with three BMW S 1000 RRs finishing in the top six. Sylvain Barrier (FRA) from the BMW Motorrad Italia Superstock Team finished second on the podium. His team mate, Lorenzo Zanetti (ITA), crossed the line in fourth, Markus Reiterberger (GER) from the Garnier Alpha Racing Team completed the top six. Leon Haslam: Result Race 1: 5th / Gap to 1st: 00:09.727 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:56.340 min Result Race 2: 9th / Gap to 1st: 00:53.586 min / Fastest Lap Race 2: 2:16.672 min “In race one I had a good start and managed to pass two guys. Then I tried to bridge the gap to Eugene Laverty. I just pushed a little bit too hard, got a false neutral and ran off the track. To be fair, I thought the race was over. But I got my head down and managed to get back to fifth. I am happy to have managed that, but disappointed I ran off. But the battling was certainly fun. In the second race I felt really good. The crash was my fault. I clipped a white line, which in these conditions is not good, and I went down. I managed to get going again and climb all the way up to seventh, but the race was stopped before I crossed the line, the results were taken from the lap before, and so I was ninth. The conditions out there were really bad, and it probably should have been stopped earlier. I think I could have got on the podium today because my times at the end were really good, but it was definitely the right decision to stop the race.” Troy Corser: Result Race 1: 15th / Gap to 1st: 00:33.320 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:56.919 min Result Race 2: 12th / Gap to 1st: 01:15.468 min / Fastest Lap Race 2: 2:16.950 min “Today has been difficult for sure. The starting position we had made life very difficult, because the first corner tends to spread the field out and you just cannot make the time back. Race two was just so wet and I could hardly see what was going on. The rain was causing me to aquaplane everywhere and I was having some big slides. I saw James Toseland crash in front of me, and then I decided to just keep it upright and finish the best I could. It was the right decision to stop the race because it was becoming very hard to ride safely out there, but I am just happy to have brought it home and score some points.” Bernhard Gobmeier (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director): “The first race was very exciting. We had Leon’s run-off that cost him a few seconds, and in the end he these seconds were exactly his gap to the top. On top of that comes the fact that in the closing stages he was doing the fastest lap times. That showed we are heading in a very good direction, and are able to race at the front. In the second race we proved we are also very strong in the wet. Also in these conditions we did top lap times, but the very bad vision and the extremely difficult conditions led to Leon’s crash that hindered us in getting a better result. Maybe it would have been a different story if the race had been stopped earlier and then restarted. To sum it up: No top result, but a positive summary because we could see that we are definitely competing at the front.” More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsports: Bitter Sweet Victory For Sykes In Germany Yorkshireman Tom Sykes celebrated his first World Championship win with a sensational performance in treacherous conditions as he splashed to victory at round ten of the World Superbike Championship at a rain-soaked Nurburgring in Germany today. Having learned earlier in the day that his services would not be required by the factory next year as the Paul Bird-run Kawasaki Superbike Racing Team will not have their contract renewed either, Sykes had to overcome the disappointment also of finishing 11th in the day’s earlier race held in dry conditions in which Spanish team-mate Joan Lascorz finished in seventh position. But it was in the day’s second race that Sykes turned in a career-best performance when he held second place for much of the race behind leader Noriyuki Haga as he battled with Sylvain Guintoli and Jonathan Rea for the podium slots. Haga slid off on lap 12 and two laps later, out came the red flag as conditions deteriorated leaving Sykes to claim a fantastic first WSB victory. The win marked the first victory for Kawasaki since Chris Walker’s epic victory back in similar conditions at Assen in 2006 and made it three World Championship successes for the Penrith-based team, adding to Shane Byrne’s wild card double at Brands Hatch in 2003 aboard the MonsterMob Ducati. The result sees Sykes up to 11th place in the World Championship standings, two places ahead of Lascorz who claimed an 11th place finish in race two to make it a successful weekend for the British team. Earlier in the day, Ulsterman Keith Farmer made his foreign debut at the German round of the World Superbike Championship aboard the Paul Bird Motorsport-prepared Kawasaki ZX-10R in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup but was knocked off on the opening lap without injury. Tom Sykes: “What a day! My ankle injury from Silverstone was troubling me in the first race and I’ll be totally honest and say it affected my performance as the race went on. In race two, conditions were diabolical and it was a battle to stay upright but I kept things smooth and just kept my concentration. In the end it was the right decision to stop the race and I’m delighted to take my first World Superbike Championship victory and to reward the team for all their hard work.” Joan Lascorz: “Firstly, my congratulations go to Tom for a wonderful victory in very difficult conditions and it was what the team deserved. For me, I had a good race in the dry to finish in seventh but I struggled in the wet conditions but I’m happy to score more points and look forward to the next race at Imola.” Paul Bird, Team Owner: “Having learned this morning that we wouldn’t be running the Kawasaki team next year was a massive blow and the team responded magnificently with our strongest performance of the season. As well as us, Tom was told his services would not be required next season so what better way of proving a point than giving the factory its first victory in five years but you have to say they make some great decisions don’t they? Getting sacked proved to be a lucky omen for us and I’m delighted for Tom and the team as they have been through the mill at times with this project. It’s a shame we can’t see it through given all our hard work but as one door closes, another one opens and we look forward to the challenges ahead should we decide to carry on.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Team Alstare Suzuki rider Michel Fabrizio left the 10th round of the World Superbike Championship at Nurburgring in Germany with no points after being ‘struck on the arm’ on the opening lap of race one. He made a good start to race one from the third-row of the grid, but was hit on the opening lap: At first, the impact didn’t bother him and he was able to charge through the field and take fifth place by half-race distance. But then his arm began to swell and he was unable to control the throttle properly. As the pain increased, the Italian dropped down the order and finished just outside the points in 16th place. Carlos Checa (Ducati) won the race comfortably with Marco Melandri (Yamaha) second and Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) in third. After the race, Fabrizio went to the Clinica Mobile where he had his right arm X-Rayed. Fortunately, nothing was broken, but the swelling indicated some damage to a tendon or muscle. He had some painkillers before going out on the grid for race two – which was delayed as the organisers waited to see if the rain would come down. When it did, all riders changed to wet tyres and went out for their inspection laps. The rain got harder and soon there were rivulets of water running across the track and deep puddles throughout the 5.137 kilometre circuit. Fabrizio and the rest of the field started the race cautiously, but it soon became clear that the conditions were worsening, he struggled for five laps before he and the Alstare Suzuki Team decided that it would be better to pull in than risk a crash and a possible injury. The race was won by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) after it was red-flagged with seven laps to go. Second was Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) with his team mate Jakub Smrz third. Michel Fabrizio – Race 1: 16th, Race 2: Retired. “I am really not sure what happened in the first lap of race one. I was going though a left turn whilst keeping an eye on Sykes on my left when I suddenly felt an impact on my right arm, just above the wrist. I don’t know if it was another rider or something that had flown up from the track. All I know is that it was a fairly-hard blow. I carried on racing and managed to pass quite a few riders and get up to fifth place. I was pretty happy at this stage because I had started from 12h on the grid, but soon I could feel the pain in my arm getting worse. I could feel it swelling up and, as the race wore on, that affected my throttle control. I just couldn’t force the throttle wide open when I needed to and it wasn’t long before riders began to pass me. I kept going as best I could, but it was frustrating seeing all the riders I had passed overtake me. The pain got worse and worse, but I kept going in case I could get any points. Unfortunately, I finished 16th, so not a good start to the day. I had some painkillers – pills, not injections – before the start of race two, but I knew that it was not going to be a good day for me, when the rain began to pour. “Soon there were big puddles everywhere and there were rivulets in many parts of the track. Even on the straights we were aquaplaning and it was pretty dangerous just trying to get round without crashing. My arm was feeling very painful and I wasn’t in the points, so the team and I decided that there was no point continuing. I pulled into the pits, which was definitely the right decision. Watching the rest of the race from my pit box, I am a bit surprised that 13 laps were completed before the red flag came out, but I was happy to have survived without crashing. “The weekend had started pretty well and Friday and Saturday had been good, apart from Superpole. My race-pace was good and I was happy with fifth after nine laps of race one. If it hadn’t have been for the blow to my arm, I’m sure that I would’ve finished the first race in the top five. But racing is unpredictable and today was just not my lucky day.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Impressive Performance for Yamaha WSB Riders in Contrasting Race Conditions Yamaha World Superbike riders encountered a challenging and eventful race day at the Nurburgring today as the dramatic second race was performed in treacherous conditions on extremely wet asphalt. Melandri and Laverty completed the first race of the day, held on a dry track, in second and fourth places respectively. The opening laps of the race saw the two Yamaha WSB riders interchange their third and fourth positions on several occasions. An error on Laverty’s behalf at the “Warsteiner bend” on lap 6 caused him to go wide, allowing Melandri to take possession of third place, before closing in on Haga and climbing to second. Two laps later on the same corner Melandri made a similar mistake, causing him to fall back to fourth place and preventing him from battling for the victory. The Italian put his head down and battled it out with Laverty and then Haga to re- claim second place by the 16th lap. Determined, he fought hard to keep his Japanese competitor at bay before crossing the finish line and claiming a spectacular second place on the podium. The second race of the day was held in treacherous conditions. A difficult start from front row on the grid saw Melandri fall back to seventh place while team-mate Laverty sat in fourth. As heavy rain drenched the German circuit rendering poor visibility and an extreme lack of grip, six riders; Fabrizio, Toseland, Aitchison, Camier, Tamada and finally race leader Haga, crashed out of contention. The Yamaha World Superbike riders prudently completed a race that seemed like a battle to remain standing. Despite the adverse track, the race was not red flagged until the 14th lap. Eugene Laverty successfully reached the finish line in fifth place with his team-mate close behind in sixth. Marco Melandri leaves the Nurburgring having jumped up to second place on the championship standings with 302 points, 74 behind Checa in the lead and holding a 21 point advantage over Biaggi, who was unable to race today due to injury. Laverty has maintained his fourth position with a total of 232 points. With this weekend’s impressive results, Yamaha are still second in the Manufacurer’s standings having further extended the gap from third place by 15 points and the Yamaha World Superbike Team have confirmed the lead in the Team standings and hold a 99 point advantage. Marco Melandri Yamaha World Superbike Team – 2nd, 6th “Race 1 wasn’t easy so I’m very happy with my podium. I got off to a good start but I wasn’t so fast for the first few laps. I made a mistake and lost the front while braking and went wide so I lost a lot of time. I then caught Eugene and eventually Noriyuki but Carlos was too far ahead. I have to thank my team, they worked hard again and did a great job all weekend! I tried to keep going and finish without crashing. I had an issue with the electronics on the bike and the display wasn’t working well so I was extra cautious in order to stay up. I feel it was an incorrect judgment of the rider’s safety to complete two thirds of the race in these conditions. I am very disappointed, in my opinion the race should have been stopped at the beginning for safety reasons.” Eugene Laverty Yamaha World Superbike Team – 4th, 5th “I was unfortunate in race one because my pace was good all weekend. I didn’t have as good a feeling on the bike as I had yesterday and the low track temperature didn’t’ help to improve the grip on the rear tyre. The second race was treacherous and on safety grounds I think it should have been stopped. I got the impression there was oil on the track after Rea came off his bike and re-joined so everyone was crashing out. We did well that all the riders are coming away without major injuries but I’m upset that we had to risk so much.” Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager “Marco did really well on this track which he was unfamiliar with before now. He achieved an important podium but it’s a shame that an error on lap 8 prevented him from battling with Carlos for the victory, a target which he could have reached. Eugene was also on top form even if he could not display his full potential in the race. He did not have the same feeling with the bike that he had yesterday. The second race was dramatic. The riders completed 14 laps over the limits of security. From the 11th lap onwards the weather got worse and as a consequence it was even riskier for the riders. I’m relieved that both riders managed the dangerous situation so well without getting injured and gained important points for the championship. For the future we need to find a way to avoid these risks for the rider’s safety. I am satisfied to be leaving Nurburgring in second place in both the riders and manufacturers standings and have further increased our advantage in the team standings.” More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: A dry track surface at the Nurburgring for the first race of the tenth round of the World Superbike Championship despite overcast skies. Aitchison started from the third row of the grid, thanks to his excellent performance in yesterday’s Superpole, while Rolfo started from the fifth. In race one both Team Pedercini riders reached the points zone. Rolfo obtained fourteenth position while Aitchison was twelfth and could have perhaps even challenged for a higher position. The rain started to fall just a few minutes before the beginning of the second race and consequently the race was declared wet. It was a very difficult race due to very bad track conditions. A good start for Aitchison and also for Rolfo. Towards the middle of the race Mark was in eighth position, very close to Laverty and Melandri but unfortunately due to the heavy rain he crashed and was not able to rejoin the race. Rolfo suffered from some set up problems but was able to end the race in thirteenth position, taking some points for the championship standing. Superbike Race one : 1) Checa (Ducati) 2) Melandri (Yamaha) 3) Haga (Aprilia) – 4) Laverty (Yamaha) “¦.. 12) Aitchison (Kawasaki) “¦”¦ 14) Rolfo (Kawasaki) Superbike Race two : 1) Sykes (Kawasaki) 2) Guintoli (Ducati) 3) Smrz (Ducati) – 4) Rea (Honda) 5) Laverty (Yamaha)”¦..13) Rolfo (Kawasaki) “¦ ret) Aitchison (Kawasaki) Roberto Rolfo : “I’m quite satisfied with the outcome of race one because after making a good start, I was able to make up some positions and close in thirteenth. We used a new set-up solution that we’d never tried before and it seemed to work quite well. I wasn’t at all happy with race two on the other hand. I had quite good feeling with the bike in the wet at the start, but when the water on the track increased it became unrideable also because I had to change setting on the starting grid and we weren’t able to complete the work in such a short time. Now we go to Imola confident that we can do well in front of our fans.” Mark Aitchison :”Our race day has been quite difficult today with two very different races. In the first race I felt like we could have been even more competitive with a slightly different tyre, but the condition was very different compare with yesterday. Finishing 12th for me and the team was very positive as I believe we are becoming more consistent over the race distance. Obviously the second race was difficult. I got a good start and managed to find a good rhythm. The conditions were terrible but my bike felt good, so I pushed on. Unfortunately with around 6-7 laps before the finish I hit some standing water on the entry to one corner and lost the front. I’m very sorry to my team for this small mistake, but the rain was making visibility almost impossible. Thank to my team for supporting me so much this weekend and giving me once again a competitive bike”. Dark cloud and grey skies but a dry track surface at the Nurburgring for the seventh round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup. A third row start for Staring while Bussolotti and Mercado lined up from the fifth row of the grid. In the first few laps, having made a very quick start, Bussolotti and Staring reached respectively eighth and ninth place while Mercado was in nineteenth position. Close to the middle of the race, Staring and Bussolotti lost one place and Mercado recovered some positions to reach seventeenth. At the end of the race Bussolotti crossed the line in ninth, followed by Staring in tenth position. Mercado was unfortunately not able to reach the points zone, closing in seventeenth place. Superstock 1000 race : 1) Giugliano (Ducati) 2) Barrier (BMW) 3) Canepa (Ducati) 4) Zanetti (BMW) 5) Baroni”¦”¦9) Bussolotti (Kawasaki) 10) Staring (Kawasaki) “¦”¦ 17) Mercado (Kawasaki) Marco Bussolotti : “I’m pretty happy because I made a good start and that allowed me to stay in the second group of riders. Right from the start I gave it everything I had, but by mid race I was losing grip at the rear and I just could not keep the pace of the guys in front of me. In the end it was impossible for me to do more than I did. I want to thank all of the guys in the team who have done such a great job this weekend.” Brian Staring: “My start was good and in the first laps I was able to pass some riders, finding a good race pace. Unfortunately close to mid-race I made a mistake. I went too fast in the first corner and lost two places as a result. I’m very disappointed about this mistake and very sorry for the team as this error prevented me from getting a better position and some more points for the championship standing. I’m not satisfied with today’s tenth place and I’m eager to race and improve at Imola.” Leandro “Tati” Mercado: “It was a really difficult race today. I lost a lot of positions through the first corner and it was difficult to overtake the riders in front of me. I tried to improve my rhythm to reach a better position but near to the end of the race I made a small mistake and I missed out on the points zone. I hope for a better race in Imola.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Sykes Takes First WSBK Race Win On Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R! WSBK, Nürburgring, Germany, 4 September 2011 Having qualified sixth at the Nürburgring Tom Sykes secured a brilliant debut win for the latest Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and himself in a wet race two, finally red-flagged after 13 soaking laps. This was Kawasaki’s first WSBK race win since 2006, when Chris Walker took full points at Assen. This was also Tom’s first career WSBK race win and his success in Germany puts him 11th overall in the championship, just one point from the top ten. Tom had a dramatic day all round, running well in the early laps of a dry race one before slipping back to 11th as he lost rear grip. His right ankle was still not feeling 100% back to normal after his big Silverstone crash, but in a wet race two he rode with composure and controlled aggression in ever-changing track conditions, capitalising when previous race leader Noriyuki Haga fell from the lead. Sykes also repelled occasional pressure from second place finisher Sylvain Guintoli, to win by four seconds. Joan Lascorz had a strong race one on his Ninja ZX-10R, going seventh after starting from the fourth row as he pulled through the pack in impressive fashion. He did not have the same kind of feel in the rain as Tom in race two and finished 11th. He is 13th in the championship, only three points behind Sykes. Pedercini Team rider Mark Aitchison was 12th in race one then a faller in race two, after running in high positions for much of the time. His team-mate Roberto Rolfo secured points in each race; 13th in race one then 14th in race two. Tom Sykes: “To get a first World Superbike win under my belt is fantastic, also with the new Kawasaki. Everybody in the team knows every time I put my leg over the bike it is all or nothing; that is the way I ride, and fortunately today that commitment paid off in race two. I got a gap behind me in the worst conditions but as the track had less water on it for a time, unfortunately our times seemed to tail off and I came under pressure from Sylvain. But as the standing water increased again we found our pace. In race one everything went to plan at the start but both the wrong tyre choice and my physical condition did not help, so when it started raining I had a bit of a grin to myself. We changed the bike quite a lot from the last time in Misano when we got pole position so obviously it was a little bit of a gamble in wet conditions. The guys gave me a great package today.” Joan Lascorz: “Race one was not so bad, especially given our starting position. I made good pace to come forward. I chose the soft tyre options in race one and I was going to change the some things on the bike for the second race but it proved to be wet anyway. In race two it was difficult in the wet conditions but I am happy for Tom and Kawasaki as this was the best result for the team.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 10 SUNDAY AUGUST 4 NÃœRBURGRING, GERMANY Weather: Dry then wet race two Temperature: Ambient 20 degrees C / Track 25 degrees C REA FOURTH IN HIS COMEBACK RIDE IN FULLY WET RACE TWO Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) secured two strong points scores in his return to championship action by finishing a dry race one in tenth place and then overcoming a fast crash on a wet track surface to post a fourth place in a shortened race two. Pole position man Carlos Checa (Ducati) won the first 20-lap race and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) took his first ever WSBK victory in truly soaking conditions in the second, which was stopped early as a contest on lap 13. In the overall standings Checa now leads race one podium finisher Marco Melandri (Yamaha) by a margin of 74 points after Max Biaggi (Aprilia) was ruled out of race day competition with a broken left foot, suffered on Friday in practice. Rea fought grip problems front and rear in race one and from his starting position of ninth he went sixth on lap one before he had to drop back to battle for the last place in the top ten. In race two he survived a high speed fall in fully wet conditions when he hit the brakes at the entry to turn one. Jonathan slid past eventual race winner Sykes while on the ground as the Kawasaki rider braked into the first corner. Rea managed to restart his CBR1000RR to get back into contention and finish only one place from the podium. Having missed out on points scores in four rounds through injury, Rea is now only two points from a top ten place, now ranked in 12th place overall. Makoto Tamada (Castrol Honda) worked hard in qualifying and the race, but was the final rider on the 20-man grid and ranked 17th in race one, just missing out on a point score. He fell in race two, as did several other riders, as the rains went from merely constant to torrential and back again. ELLISON AND LOWES ON THE PODIUM IN A DRY SUPERSPORT RACE After 19-intense laps at the Nürburgring James Ellison (Bogdanka PTR Honda) turned around a run of misfortune with a strong second place behind championship leader Chaz Davies (Yamaha), with James only 0.091 seconds from victory. Ellison had been a force throughout the weekend after qualifying fifth. His fellow Honda rider Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) rode with pain from practice crashes to record his fourth podium of the season, settling for third after some other top contenders had run off track or had fallen. He was still only 3.749 seconds from the win himself and well clear of fourth placed rider Luca Scassa (Yamaha). Pole man Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) had an unhappy race day, being pushed wide at one stage by eventual faller Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) and then being unable to recover the kind of form that put him on top pre race. He was to finish sixth, on his own for the last part of the competition. Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda), Foret’s team-mate, was tenth on the grid and ninth in the race, unable to carry on the good feeling he had in recent test sessions at Assen into this round. Balazs Nemeth (Team Hungary Toth Honda) finished in the top ten and is ranked 14th in the championship now, with Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Honda) 11th overall despite his third no score in a row. Marino is now 12th overall, with another Nürburgring non-finisher, Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda), 13th in the current standings. Alexander Lundh (Cresto Guide Honda) worked well to get 13th from 26 finishers, some five seconds ahead of Imre Toth (Team Hungary Toth Honda), the last Honda in 14th place. Pawel Szkopek (Bogdanka PTR Honda) fell on lap 15, third place qualifier Gino Rea on lap 14, in a mystery crash when he lost the front while sitting in a seemingly safe third place. HONDA RIDER COMMENTS: Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Race result: 10th / 4th Championship position: 12th “We were really lucky in race two because we were struggling with grip in the dry so the wet was better for us to challenge near the front. We had a problem with engine braking settings in race two and that was the reason for the crash. The set-up of the bike was still good and it was nice to give the team a good result after all the time being away. It’s a long time since we have been in the top five. My wrist was not perfect and I did not think it was going to be, but we scored in each race.” Makoto Tamada (Castrol Honda) Race result: 17th / DNF Championship position: No Score “In race one it was difficult because we had some chatter like we had in practice. We tried many things with the settings, but there was not a big improvement. In race two the weather conditions were so difficult and when it rained even harder it was difficult to see where you were going. I rode thinking safety and not crashing, but I was just banking easily into a corner and the front just went away.” Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) Race result: 6th / Championship position: 3rd “I went off track because of Gino Rea, and then when I went off I could not get my rhythm again afterwards. Then my tyre went off and I had a terrible race experience all in. I hope for better in Imola because it can only be better.” Sam Lowes (Parkalgar Honda) Race result: 3rd Championship position: 6th “The weekend started off really good and the first day was mega. I had a crash first thing on Saturday morning and knocked myself about a bit, and was a bit dazed really. I also had a crash in the Saturday afternoon session, so last night I was lying in bed thinking. ‘I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring.’ I was OK today, a little bit injured and I am hurting now, but it was nothing that let me down in the race. I am happy to get third place, back on the podium for the fourth time this year, so I am looking forward to Imola now.” Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda) Race result: DNF Championship position: 7th “To be honest I do not really know why I fell as we have not had tome to look at the data, but it was an unexpected one. I did not have any moments there in the race at all and even now it does not explain itself how it really happened. As soon as I changed direction it was like the front lifted and landed side on, and chucked me over the front, but not like it was a normal front tyre push. Not a normal kind of crash. I had some good pace today which was good, even though I struggled at the beginning. I got my rhythm back and I was able to reel the leaders in. I was so comfortable behind them and then the crash happened.” James Ellison (Bogdanka Honda) Race result: 2nd Championship position: 8th “We had a month off over the summer break and the guys worked really hard on the bike. We had a good start in some ways to the year, but then the season has turned upside down. Until now it has been demoralising really, losing our way a bit, but over this recent summer break we got our heads together, sorted the bike and it has been great all weekend. The team has made the bike fun to ride and when you are enjoying it, you can go quickly. I was not going to catch Chaz today, so full credit to him, and Sam after all that happened to him on the weekend.” Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) Race result: 9th Championship position: 12th “From the first session I have had big setting problems, especially entering into the corners. With that I have had also problems with grip on the rear and since the first session in the dry we did not find a solution. It was wet this morning so we could not test what we wanted in warm-up. So for the race we did what we could.” Miguel Praia (Parkalgar Honda) Race result: DNF Championship position: 13th “The first laps were difficult for me to get temperature on the rear tyre. I had a lot of slides and lost the group that was fighting for the top five. I was still there fighting and to be honest I thought I could make the gap again. Then my handlebar started to come loose, for some reason, and I just could not change direction as I needed to. I started to lose time and then in the last three or four laps I just could not carry on.” Balazs Nemeth (Hungary Team Toth Honda) Race result: 10th Championship position: 14th “The bike was good for the race, almost perfect, and we changed the front brake after practice where I had some problems. In the race it was good and now my start was not so good and I dropped back to about 25th. I had to fight back and in the last part I made some mistake and lost more positions so I had to fight back again.” More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: ATROCIOUS CONDITIONS ADD TO TROY’S MISERY The second race today took part in atrocious conditions. After a dry first race, everybody was hoping for a dry second , but when the teams all lined up on the grid for race two, the heavens opened and heavy rain began to fall, rendering the track a combination of standing water and rivulets. Aquaplaning became the norm and it was no surprise when the race was red-flagged after fourteen laps. Troy splashed around to twelfth out thirteen finishers, which was better than his fifteenth in the dry first race. Carlos Checa (Ducati) comfortably won race one, with Marco Melandri (Yamaha) second and Noriyuki Haga (Aprilia) third. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) took the rain-affected race two, with Ducati team mates Sylvain Guintoli and Jakub Smrz second and third. Troy – Race 1: 15th, Race 2: 12th Well, it has not been a good weekend for sure. It didn’t start well on Friday and really it never got any better. We lost a lot of time on Friday and that affected the grid position because we were unable to get into Superpole. It’s a shame because my pace in Saturday afternoon’s free practice was pretty good. Starting from the fifth row of the grid was never going to be good and matters weren’t helped in race one when I didn’t get a particularly good start. I found it difficult catching and passing anybody and then began losing grip after about six laps. The bike was spinning up too easily and, from then on, it was just a matter of trying to keep the bike upright and bringing it home, so not a great race for me. We all lined up on the grid for race two on slicks, but it was pretty obvious that the rain was going to come, so the start was delayed ten minutes. Pretty soon the rain began and there was a lot of activity on the grid as everybody changed to full wet tyres. We softened up the bike a little and changed the preload to the wet set-up we tried in the morning warm-up. Even on the inspection lap, puddles were beginning to form and so we all took the first lap of the race pretty cautiously. I didn’t make a bad start, but maybe took it a bit too cautiously going into turn. It would’ve been so easy to crash there and take a load of other riders out, so I erred on the side of caution. I lost some time because of that, but soon had to concentrate hard to avoid crashing in the variable conditions. Some parts of the track had a lot of water on them and some not so much, so you had to keep your wits about you all the time. There were deep puddles everywhere and many, many rivulets running across the track. Down at the bottom hairpin, there was even some mud or sand washed down from the hill and we were also aquaplaning in many areas. Toseland came past me pretty hard and then had a big off and that made me a bit more cautious. I didn’t want to crash and bend or break the plate in my arm because that would’ve been a disaster. By half race distance, the conditions were pretty dangerous and a few of us riders put our hands up to get the race stopped. But no notice was taken until about four laps later, when the race was red-flagged. If I had been in a different position in the championship and didn’t have a plate and screws in my arm, I might have gone a bit faster but, in my situation, there was no point. I am happy to have survived the afternoon, uninjured, and hope that conditions will be much better in the next round in Imola.