FIM Superbike World Championship Nurburgring, Germany September 5, 2010 Race Two Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Noriyuki HAGA, Japan (Ducati 1098F10), 20 laps, 38:43.565 2. Jonathan REA, Great Britain (Honda CBR1000RR), -3.061 seconds 3. Leon HASLAM, Great Britain (Suzuki GSX-R1000), -8.060 4. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R1), -8.457 5. Max BIAGGI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), -9.392 6. Sylvain GUINTOLI, France (Suzuki GSX-R1000), -9.556 7. Tom SYKES, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -16.819 8. James TOSELAND, Great Britain (Yamaha YZF-R1), -20.564 9. Ruben XAUS, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -21.040 10. Shane BYRNE, Great Britain (Ducati 1098R), -21.168 11. Jakub SMRZ, Czech Republic (Aprilia RSV4 Factory), -21.734 12. Troy CORSER, Australia (BMW S1000RR), -22.746 13. Lorenzo LANZI, Italy (Ducati 1098R), -24.526 14. Luca SCASSA, Italy (Ducati 1098R), -28.218 15. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (Honda CBR1000RR), -38.406 16. Roger HAYDEN, USA (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -68.039 17. Matteo BAIOCCO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -81.294 18. Fabrizio LAI, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR), -81.362 19. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (Ducati 1098F10), -98.427, pitted 20. Ian LOWRY, Great Britain (Kawasaki ZX-10R), -9 laps, DNF, crash 21. Carlos CHECA, Spain (Ducati 1098R), -11 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 22 of 26 races): 1. Biaggi, 397 seconds 2. Haslam, 339 3. Rea, 288 4. Checa, 224 5. Crutchlow, 217 6. Haga, 202 7. Toseland, 187 8. Guintoli, 169 9. Leon Camier, 164 10. Fabrizio, 160 11. Corser, 159 12. Byrne, 136 13. Xaus, 85 14. Smrz, 76 15. Sykes, 70 16. Scassa, 61 17. Lanzi, 54 18. Neukirchner, 41 19. TIE, Hayden/Chris Vermeulen, 10 21. Parkes, 9 22. Brookes, 6 23. Baiocco, 5 24. Lowry, 4 25. TIE, Morais/Pitt, 3 More, from a press release issued by Alitalia Aprilia: NURBURGRING WSBK MAX BIAGGI MINDS SOLIDIFYING HIS LEAD AND BRINGS HOME PRECIOUS POINTS FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. HE IS FOURTH IN RACE 1 AND FIFTH IN RACE 2. TWO ROUNDS FROM THE END OF THE SEASON HIS POINTS ADVANTAGE REMAINS PRACTICALLY UNCHANGED. APRILIA STILL FIRST IN MANUFACTURER RANKINGS. Nurburgring (Germany), 5 September 2010 At the end of a bright and dark weekend, in any case brightened by yesterday’s fantastic, track record setting Superpole, Max Biaggi comes home from the Nurburgring solidly at the top of the world championship standings. The four time world champion now has a 58 point advantage over his closest pursuer, Brit Leon Haslam (Suzuki). From a championship point of view, the German round came down to the two riders, and by now the only riders – even according to the maths – competing for the title: in the first race Biaggi rode his Aprilia RSV4 to fourth place leaving Haslam behind (sixth) and thus earning three points. In race 2 Haslam (third) made up five points on Max. In race 1, which Rea (Honda) won, Max had some trouble at the start and then mounted a fantastic comeback which brought him to fourth place. In race 2 Max stayed among the front riders the entire way and, in spite of his fifth place finish, just barely missed a spot on the podium. To summarise, these were two strong races which solidify both Max Biaggi’s top spot in the rider rankings (Biaggi 397, Haslam 339) and Aprilia’s lead in the manufacturer standings (Aprilia 409, Suzuki 360, Ducati 342). The final result: the 60 point advantage Max had at the beginning of the weekend turned into 58 and this will be the advantage as we go into the last two rounds which will decide this fascinating World Superbike 2010 season. “A shame – confesses Max Biaggi at the end of race 2 – We battled all weekend with grip and chattering problems. I know that I can be decisively faster. In fact, in Superpole with the soft tyre we were making excellent times. But the important thing is to know how to deal with the difficulties. We took home some important points from a championship point of view and now there are just two more rounds and we’re out front. The finish line is close, but we cannot make the mistake of underestimating our rivals who, even today, showed their determination to exploit every false move we make”. More, from a press release issued by Infront Motor Sports: Rea and Haga share the wins as Haslam and Biaggi battle on Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) each got back to winning ways this weekend in front of a 45,000 crowd at the Nurburgring, as Rea posted his fourth and Haga his second win of the 2010 championship campaign. It was a frustrating weekend for the two top riders in the World Superbike Championship, as they had to watch others take the glory, as Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) had his championship lead over Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) cut, despite Haslam suffering a dislocated thumb and knee injuries. Biaggi now leads the series by a slightly trimmed 58 points, with two full rounds to go. Rea’s win and then a second place, combined with a luckless race two for Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) sees the Honda man in third overall, 64 points ahead of the Spanish rider. Rea also took a new lap record, 1’55.392, in race one. Cal Crutchlow is only seven points behind Checa, in fifth place, having scored a third and a fourth place in Germany. Haga’s win sees him sixth, 15 points clear of James Toseland (Yamaha Sterilgarda) who fell in race one and was only eighth in race two. Strong rides from Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) put him eighth overall, ahead of injured rider Leon Camier and Michel Fabrizio. Race 1 Jonathan Rea took an early lead in the re-started first race, and rode at full pace to lead Carlos Checa home and record his fourth win of the 2010 season. Third place went to Yamaha Sterilgarda rider Cal Crutchlow, ten seconds back on Rea. Championship leader Max Biaggi was fourth, and Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes was a more than creditable fifth. Leon Haslam, one of the riders involved in the crash that caused the race to be stopped and then completely re-run, was sixth. Ruben Xaus was first BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider home in Germany, seventh. Jonathan Rea: “A great race and a great weekend for the team. Already on Friday we were right on the pace, we came out with a bike that was good, really pushed hard, I felt comfortable on it and turned it into a good result so I’m really proud of my team.” Carlos Checa: “We had a good start and fought with Haga who then fell in front of me. Then I tried to follow Jonathan but he was very strong and nothing happened to the end. We did our best and are quite satisfied with the pace and the work we did this weekend.” Cal Crutchlow: “Nice to be back up here. Tenth on the grid is not so good into the first corner but I did the best job I could for Yamaha Sterilgarda. I thought right through that third place on this track is incredible for our bike and it was going to be difficult.” Results (with Pirelli front/rear race tyre selection): 1. Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 38’42.640 (159,243 kph) (C/A); 2. Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 1.126 (A/A); 3. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 10.006 (C/A); 4.Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 10.716 (B/C); 5. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 17.391 (C/A); 6. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 19.301 (A/C); 7. Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 19.613 (B/C); 8. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 19.880 (A/C); 9. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 21.176 (C/A); 10. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 29.752 (B/A); 11. Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 30.156 (A/C); 12. Lowry I. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 53.622 (B/C); 13. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 58.820 (B/A); 14. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’25.906 (A/A) Race 2 Noriyuki Haga, a race one faller, was an impressive winner of race two, the Japanese rider shining strongly in the German sunshine. He was an eventual 3.061 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea. Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) rode through the pain barrier to go third, with Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) ending up fourth. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) managed to keep Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare) behind him at the flag for fifth, in a tense 20-lap race for the championship’s top men. Noriyuki Haga: “I’m very happy with this result and very sorry for the first race. When I had a crash, I wasn’t getting information from the front tyre and for race 2 I made just a little modification for the front suspension and that was working much better. I was able to keep a high pace until the flag. Next round is Imola, our home track and I have much pressure but I hope to do my best.” Jonathan Rea: “The pace was similar to race 1 but Nori was fantastic, he rode an unbelievable race. It’s quite frustrating when you see someone ride away from you like that. A great job for my team this weekend, 45 points overall and I’m really very happy. I’m very consistent now but it’s so frustrating when I see my mid-season form.” Leon Haslam: “Race 1 was a bit frustrating, it was completely my fault when I high-sided and Troy had nowhere to go, so luckily the race was red-flagged. In the second race, I only had one bike but the boys did a great job and the Clinica did a fantastic job with my knee and my thumb so thanks to them. Getting on the podium is not exactly what I wanted but we’ll take it this weekend. Anything can happen, there are four more races still to go so roll on Imola!” Results (with front/rear race tyre selection): 1.Haga N. (JPN)Ducati 1098R 8’43.565 (159,18 kph); 2.Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 3.061; 3. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 8.060; 4.Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 8.457; 5. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 9.392; 6. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 9.556; 7. Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 16.819; 8. Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 20.564; 9.Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 21.040; 10. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 21.168; 11.Smrz J. (CZE) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 21.734; 12.Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 22.746; 13.Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 24.526; 14. Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 28.218; 15. Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 38.406; 16. Hayden R. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’08.039; 17. Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1’21.294; 18. Lai F. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 1’21.362; 19. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 1’38.427 All riders on same solutions with the exception of Guintoli and Lanzi who changed to the “A” rear and Hayden who changed to the “C” rear for Race 2. Points (after 11 rounds of 13): 1. Biaggi 397; 2. Haslam 339; 3. Rea 288; 4. Checa 224; 5. Crutchlow 217; 6. Haga 202; 7. Toseland 187; 8. Guintoli 69; 9. Camier 164; 10. Fabrizio 160. Manufacturers: 1. Aprilia 409; 2. Suzuki 360; 3. Ducati 342; 4.Honda 299; 5.Yamaha 285; 6. BMW 190; 7. Kawasaki 77 World Supersport A close race at the front saw Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) take a win by only 0.058 seconds from Gino Rea (Intermoto Czech Honda), only for Rea to be disqualified because of a technical infraction with his machine. Laverty set the best time of the race on lap 17 to hold off the battling Rea. Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) was eventually second and thus Sofuoglu leads the championship fight by a still comfortable margin of 12 points. Top Kawasaki rider was the returning Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com) who was finally awarded a podium place, ahead of Fabien Foret (Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki). Results: 1.Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 37’52.893 (154,592 kph); 2.Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 5.072; 3.Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX-6R 15.890; 4.Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 16.911; 5. Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 28.380; 6.Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 28.495; 7.Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 28.578; 8.Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 28.787; etc. Points (after 11 rounds of 13): 1. Sofuoglu 223; 2. Laverty 211; 3. Lascorz 168; 4. Davies 137; 5. Salom 90;6.Harms 87;7. Rea 83; 8.Pirro 66; 9. Foret 65; 10.Lagrive 65. Manufacturers: 1. Honda 270 (2010 champions); 2. Kawasaki 185; 3. Triumph 146; 4. Yamaha 22 Superstock 1000 Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia STK) took his eighth successive win of the season at a sunny Nürburgring, posting a perfect 200 points total so far. Winning in BMW’s home country, Badovini was almost a second up on Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Race Junior) with Andrea Antonelli (Team Lorini) in contact and in the final podium place. Sylvain Barrier (Garnier Junior Racing) won a close fight with Loris Baz (MRS Racing) and Michele Magnoni (Bevilacqua Corse). Results: 1. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 22’02.582 (153,809 kph); 2. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 0.906; 3. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.058; 4. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 12.078; 5. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 12.328; 6. Magnoni M. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 12.849; 7. Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 14.395; 8. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 15.560; Points (after 8 rounds of 10): 1. Badovini 200; 2. Berger 106; 3. Magnoni 94; 4.Antonelli 89; 5. Giugliano 71; 6. Baz 65; 7. Barrier 60; 8. Petrucci 46; 9. Mahr 42; 10. Beretta 38. Manufacturers: 1. BMW 200 (2010 champions); 2. Honda 149; 3. Suzuki 87; 4.Yamaha 67; 5. Ducati 59; 6. Kawasaki 49; 7.KTM 30; 8. Aprilia 18 Pirelli “It was a pleasurable weekend for racing for Pirelli at the Nürburgring with clear skies and air temperatures around 15°C, although track temperatures varied from 25°C in Race 1 and 37°C in Race 2. Pirelli made available 4 front and 4 rear tyre solutions for the SBK grid. Of these, the new SC1 special compound “A” rear was popular with 80% of the grid, with SBK teams opting between the SC1 compound “A” or new SC2 special compound “C” on the front. The SSP class was given a choice between 3 front and 2 rear tyres, of which the new “A” rear tyre was selected by 100% of the grid. From the first qualifying sessions, the SBK lap times proved an excellent performance of the new DIABLO SUPERBIKE solutions, with Checa (Ducati) registering a new best lap, broken on Saturday with Biaggi’s (Aprilia) Superpole time of 1’54.595, nearly a second below the time set two years before. Rea (Honda) was the fastest in race scenario, beating his own lap record from 2009 by a second and taking the Pirelli Best Lap award in both races. The versatility of the new solutions were evident: 7 manufacturers in the top 7 positions for Race 1 and 5 manufacturers in the first 5 for Race 2, with a strong performance by Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes who tied his best finish of the year (5th). Impressive improvements also with respect to overall race time, with Race 1 finishing 22 seconds faster than the previous year and 18 seconds faster in Race 2. Local Pirelli Superstock Series winner from Heidelberg, Jan Bühn (Yamaha), was awarded a wildcard in the Superstock 600 and managed to qualify and finish in tenth position.” – Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto Pirelli Performance Awards: SBK Race 1 – Pirelli BEST LAP Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1’55.392 (Lap 5) SBK Race 2 – Pirelli BEST LAP Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1’55.502 (Lap 2) Total BEST LAP (SBK): Checa C. (Althea Racing): 6, Crutchlow C. (Yamaha World Superbike): 6, Rea J. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 5, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Alitalia Racing): 2, Haslam L. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Guintoli S. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Fabrizio M. (Ducati Xerox Team): 1 WSS – Pirelli BEST LAP Eugene Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), 1’59.027 (Lap 17) Total BEST LAP (WSS): Sofuoglu K. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 5, Laverty E. (Parkalgar Honda): 3, Lascorz J. (Kawasaki Motocard.com): 2, Pirro M. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 1 Stk1000 – Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARD Loris Baz (MRS Racing), from 13th to 5th (8 positions) More, from a press release issued by Althea Racing: Nurburgring, 5th September 2010 The Althea Racing Team returns home after the eleventh round of the World Superbike Championship at the Nurburgring with another podium under its belt. Spaniard Carlos Checa scored second place in race one while his team-mate Shane Byrne took two top ten finishes. The greatest satisfaction for the team, captained by Genesio Bevilacqua, came in the day’s first race when Carlos Checa quickly broke away from the pack, along with Haga and Rea, before building a useful gap that allowed him to fight for the win until the very last lap. With Haga crashing out mid-race, it was the Spanish rider who battled against Rea for the win until the final corner, having made up almost a second in the final stages. Carlos eventually crossed the line behind Rea, taking another second place finish which once again demonstrates the great potential of the ChecaAlthea Racing partnership. “I got away well and, with Rea and Haga, found a good pace which allowed us to get away from the others”, revealed Carlos. “I was fighting against Noriyuki for second but when he crashed I tried to attack Jonathan. He had a strong pace though and I wasn’t able to make up that second of time that gave him the win. I’m very satisfied with the result and thank my team for their hard work.” In Race 2, Checa was unfortunately victim of a crash while fighting for the win against Haga and Rea. Shane Byrne finished both races well within the points zone. The British rider, starting from the fifth row due to an accident in yesterday’s Superpole, proved he had the pace to fight against the frontrunners, just as he had demonstrated in the practice sessions. Getting away well, he was able to finish both races inside the top ten, in ninth and tenth position. “I showed that I had pace right from the first practice session and hoped for two great races”, said “Shakey”. “Unfortunately yesterday’s crash compromised my weekend and I didn’t achieve what I had hoped to. It is difficult to make passes here and the fact that I started from the back didn’t help of course but I gave 100% and in the end I managed to close in the top ten which wasn’t bad. I want to thank the boys for their great work.” “The only thing we were missing this weekend was luck”, revealed Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing. “The second race was tight, with very close times and it was easy for one of the protagonists to make a mistake. This happened to Carlos, that’s the way it goes. I’m nevertheless happy that Haga and his Ducati won and I compliment him and his team. Despite the mistake, in both the last and first race, at the end of which we got onto the podium, we showed the potential of our bikes. Carlos is in great shape and now we’ll look to Imola and Magny-Cours where we hope to make up ground we have lost in the standings. Shakey? It was difficult for him to reach the front from the fifth row but, even if he wasn’t able to do as well as he had in practice, he nevertheless scored strong results. Of course, I had hoped for more after the results we had seen in practice.” The next World Superbike round is scheduled for the 26th September when the Althea Racing team will be on track at Imola for the penultimate race of the season. More, from a press release issued by Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Jonathan Rea enjoyed a race win, a second place finish and set a new lap record in today’s two 11th round World Superbike championship races at Nurburgring in Germany. The other race was won by Japan’s Noriyuki Haga. Starting from the inside of the front row of the grid, Rea was first into the Nuburgring’s tight first corner in race one and, although pressed hard in the early stages by Haga and Spanish rider, Carlos Checa, the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland was never headed. Race two was not quite so straightforward for Rea, who was fourth on the opening lap before passing series leader Max Biaggi and eventually finishing second to the hard-charging Haga after Checa crashed out on lap 10. However, the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider took the fastest lap in race two to go with the new Nurburgring lap record he had established in the first outing itself almost a second inside the record he established in the process of winning race two last year. Rea has now finished in first or second place in the last six World Superbike championship races and heads into the last two rounds of the series boosted by the fact that Imola and Magny-Cours are two of his favourite circuits. His Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Max Neukirchner, did not enjoy such a fruitful day at his home race. The 27-year-old German was in confident mood following some promising runs during practice and qualifying. However, he found his race set up working differently than expected with his Pirelli tyres and after crashing out of race one, Neukirchner could only manage a fifteenth place finish in the second. Jonathan Rea 1st and 2nd We were really behind the 8-ball on Friday but did a lot of work that night and came back yesterday with a bike we could challenge with. We managed to turn that into a win in the first race today by makin g a break at the front and controlling the race, so all credit has to go to the crew for turning things around. Nori was really fast in the second race so I’m really happy with a one-two and really think that was probably the maximum points I could get today. It was a lap of two halves really and I while I was weak in the first two splits the last two were really strong. Although I could gain a little bit there, I’d just got dropped a little bit at the start and I lost my rhythm a bit when Checa went down. But I’m really happy I’m enjoying riding the bike and it’s fun to turn up to a racetrack and just ride the CBR. If you’d offered me a one-two on Friday I would have snapped your hand off. Max Neukirchner DNF and 15th You can imagine I am not very happy. It’s very strange because yesterday I did really well and went faster much more easily like one and a half s econds faster! Today it just wasn’t possible to get into the corner and turn the bike without the tyre spinning completely. The team has looked at it on the data and they confirm that there was double the amount from yesterday. We changed nothing just put in new tyres and went. Yesterday afternoon the bike felt perfect and today it was a completely different bike, 5kph slower and almost impossible to ride. It makes me feel like an idiot, especially at my home race and in front of a lot of my fans. It’s a big shame for them. The set up we have now is not bad for me not perfect, but not bad. It’s just that with the tyres changing, it’s not possible to go in the top ten. Ronald ten Kate team manager Max’s race results have been quite disappointing after some promising runs he had during the qualifying sessions, so we’ll all try to keep his chin up and see if the last two rounds can bring something half decent. On the positive side we’re seeing a very good, consistent run from Jonathan at the moment from the last six races he has had only firsts and seconds. The double wasn’t possible this weekend but with results like today we can only be happy and very satisfied. We go now to two of his favourite tracks so we’re looking forward to that. The aim is no longer to protect third in the championship but to attack for second place, which is still very much possible. More, from a press release issued by BMW Motorrad Motorsports: Weather conditions: Light clouds. Temperature: Air: 11 – 19 °C, Track: 11 – 34 °C Number of riders participating: 21 from 13 teams Fastest lap Race 1: Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1:55.392 min Fastest lap Race 2: Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1:55.502 min The 11th round of the 2010 FIM Superbike World Championship at the Nürburgring (GER) was the home event for Team BMW Motorrad Motorsport and today’s second race marked the 50th race for the young team in the series. But today lady luck was not on the team’s side. In the first race both riders had a good start and gained lots of positions, but unfortunately during the first lap Troy Corser (AUS) was the innocent victim of a crash and fell. The race was red flagged. Troy was able to take the second start, but had to withdraw after six laps due to a painful arm as a result of the crash. The injury also hindered him in the second race and he came in 12th . Ruben Xaus (ESP) put in a convincing performance with consistent lap times and finished seventh and ninth. In the championship standings, Troy is 11th with 159 points, while Ruben improved to 13th with 85 points. In the manufacturers’ standings, BMW is sixth (190 points). In the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup the new champion Ayrton Badovini from Team BMW Motorrad Italia STK continued his winning streak. The Italian celebrated his eighth victory in the eighth race of the season. He had already secured an early title victory in the series five weeks ago at Silverstone. Ruben Xaus: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Result Race 1: 7th , Gap to 1st: 00:19.613 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:56.448 min Result Race 2: 9th , Gap to 1st: 00:21.040 min / Fastest Lap Race 2: 1:56.178 min “It has been a really tough day for us. In both races I fought really hard. In race one with Leon Haslam and race two with James Toseland. I was pushing on every lap, but unfortunately I was having some issues on the first section of the lap. I just couldn’t keep them behind me. But the team have done a great job yet again for me this weekend. All we need to do now is work on a few minor things with the bike, just to find that half second, and then I think we can really challenge the front guys. I am hopeful we can do this for the next race in Imola.” Troy Corser: Bike: BMW S 1000 RR Result Race 1: DNF Result Race 2: 12th , Gap to 1st : 00:22.746 min / Fastest Lap Race 1: 1:56.143 min “In the first race I crashed in an incident with Leon Haslam and I went down on my elbow pretty hard. But I felt I was able to go out for race two despite the pain. Everything felt pretty good for the first ten laps, but after that the pain got worse and I had issues with the feeling in my arm. So I decided to settle for my position and just bring the bike home. I didn’t want to risk further injury by challenging the riders in front. Of course I am disappointed because I am sure under normal circumstances I would have been on the podium. But we are looking forward to the next race now in a positive manner.” Berthold Hauser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director): “Our home event started very well, but the final outcome is not what we expected. We were on top until Saturday before the Superpole started, but then we were followed by bad luck. Troy had a brilliant start in the first race today and moved up to ninth, but then was hit from behind. He was hurt in that crash and that also hindered him in the second race. Hats off to Troy for riding despite the pain. I am really happy for Ruben: he put in a superb performance achieving the best possible results. We had the potential for more this weekend, but now we are determined to show that in the next races.” More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsports Kawasaki: A record breaking weekend for the Kawasaki Racing Team The Kawasaki Racing Team celebrated their best results of the season with British born, Tom Sykes taking a fantastic fifth and seventh place at the famous Nurburgring circuit this weekend in Germany for the 11th round of the Hannspree World Superbike Championship. Sykes fine-stunned his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R machine during Saturday’s qualifying sessions with a superb seventh place after an outstanding Superpole performance, the Teams best qualifying position all year. Starting from the second row allowed the 25-year-old the opportunity to impress during both of Sunday’s races with outstanding starts off the line and a consistent pace to mark him with the front runners for both of the 20-lap races. Northern Irishman, Ian Lowry completed the Teams successful weekend on his World Superbike debut by finishing race one inside the points with an impressive twelfth place. Having not raced at the 5.137 km circuit before and not having had much time or experience on the Kawasaki factory machine, Lowry continued to improve as the weekend progressed but unfortunately had a slide off in race two after a settings change didn’t go to plan. The two race winners for round eleven of the Hannspree World Superbike were taken by HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider, Jonathan Rea and Xerox Ducati rider, Noriyuki Haga in front of the German crowd. Tom Sykes currently lies in fifteenth place in the Championship with two races remaining. The Team also celebrated the exclusive unveiling of the new 2011 ZX-10R on Thursday evening by giving a sneak preview of the hugley anticipated Ninja machine. Key Kawasaki representatives also spoke for the first time about their aspirations and ambitions of the awaiting bike in the World Superbike Championship for 2011. The Kawasaki Racing Team now head to the popular Imola circuit, located just outside of Bologna in Italy for the penultimate round of the Championship on the 24-26 September. Tom Sykes: “We’ve had quite a strong performance here at the Nurburgring this weekend from both myself and the Team and I’m very happy with how it’s gone. I just wished we could have hang in there a bit more in race two but overall I can’t complain as it’s our best result for the year. We came here with a good base package and worked well with what we new was our setting goal so this meant we didn’t need to make big changes, just a few tweaks which ultimately is much easier on a rider. I was able to just focus on fine tuning the bike and the best tyre combinations to get my ultimate setting. Overall it’s been a massive effort from the Team and Kawasaki and although I’d like to thank every individual, I have to give additional thanks to Johnny my crew chief, and Javier from Showa, for giving me the best package this weekend which I was able to show in the races and come away with some strong results for Kawasaki.” Ian Lowry: “I was really excited to have been asked to ride this weekend for the Factory Kawasaki Team and although I obviously haven’t ridden around the Nurburgring before or spent much time on the bike, I felt that I started the weekend in pretty good shape. I spent most of Friday learning the track and getting my base setting comfortable and with each session on track I felt more comfortable and could see that I was making progress on my lap times. I was really pleased to have finished 12th in race one and get some points for the team but I’m just a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to improve my time and performance in race two having had a slide off after we took the wrong direction with our settings. But without focusing on the negatives, overall I have thoroughly enjoyed my first outing at the World Superbikes with the Kawasaki Racing Team and I hope that I get another opportunity to race with them again.” Paul Bird Team Owner: “This has been one of the most enjoyable race weekends I’ve had in a long while. We started off with our Team presentation on Thursday evening with the new bike which was a big success and we’ve managed to continue that through to the rest of the weekend. When Tom hit third in Superpole two, it made my heart skip-a-beat and a row two start after Superpole three gave him the chance to be as competitive as he could be on the bike. He did a fantastic job from start to finish in both races and I’m really proud of the Teams achievements. Ian also did a great job this weekend and did more then what we asked of him. Overall I can fly home this evening feeling pretty happy for a change. Let’s hope we can continue the success until the end of the season. “ Paul Risbridger Team Manager: “It’s been a great weekend for the Team where we started with the new Kawasaki bike presentation on Thursday night. It was really exciting for us to present this to the media and key guests and I believe it created quite a buzz around the paddock with a lot of interest. This gave us a lift going into the weekend as we started Friday very strongly with Tom running in the top ten from the first session onwards. Tom put in a great performance during qualifying where we had the best performance for the year with a seventh on the grid. We topped that with two great races on Sunday with a fifth and a seventh from Tom and a twelfth from Ian. These results cemented this as our strongest weekend in World Superbikes. Ian did a great job stepping in for the first time at Nurburgring and great for him to get some points in the first race. He was just a bit unlucky to have slid off in the second race. We couldn’t have really asked for much more this weekend and it’s been a real boost for the guys towards the end of a long season and to begin our testing programme with the new bike.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Crutchlow podiums at the Nurburgring Yamaha Sterilgarda rider Cal Crutchlow kept his head down and got straight to business in today’s two World Superbike races at the legendary Nurburgring circuit in Germany. Despite a challenging grid start position of tenth Crutchlow fought through in both races, taking a well earned podium with third in race one and finishing just off it in fourth in race two, a mere four tenths of a second behind third placed rider Leon Haslam. The first race started with some drama and a red flag, a big crash by other riders forcing both Crutchlow and Toseland off the track to avoid further incident. Crutchlow’s team mate James Toseland initially started well from his relegated eighth position on the grid following yesterday’s Superpole penalty where he jumped the session start by several seconds. Unfortunately following the restart in race one the British rider crashed out whilst attempting to catch the leaders. Race two saw Toseland battling for grip and also suffering from a small brake issue. Despite this he held off the advances of Ruben Xaus to hold onto eighth position at the line. The Yamaha Sterilgarda team leaves Germany and heads towards Imola in three weeks for the penultimate round of the 2010 World Superbike Championship with Crutchlow still in fifth having closed down the gap to Carlos Checa in fourth to just seven points from the previous gap of 16. Team mate James Toseland drops a place to seventh, fifteen points behind Noriyuki Haga in sixth. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (3rd, 4th) “Race one was really good, I was happy to be on the podium again, especially starting from tenth and considering we spent a lot of the weekend working through some different set up issues; it was a credible finish. I was also happy with the second race, I was disappointed not to be on the podium but I think if we had a better tyre we could have challenged for it, I did the best job I could. It was still good for the championship, we are pulling up on Checa a little bit so hopefully we can go to Imola and build on this.” James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 8th) “When race one restarted I got a decent get away and was coming up behind Tom Sykes and accidentally lost the front. Not being on the front row makes it really difficult here, after the first few corners it gets really spread out and it’s difficult to catch up. It was very frustrating to be relegated to the second row, I don’t really think the punishment matched the crime in this instance. I seemed to struggle with braking power in the start of the second race and also struggled with the rear grip from the softer rear tyre. We will regroup and go to Imola and give it 100% as always.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “It’s been an ok weekend for us in Germany. Cal proved that he can always stay in the top five and showed great intelligence in his racing to bring home points. James again had a difficult weekend. I think the crash in the first race compromised his results in the second. After yesterday afternoon the expectation was higher for today but we have to accept today’s results; that is racing. The next race will be Imola, we go there with good motivation as we were fastest there on both of the test days in the summer.” More, from a press release issued by Team Alstare Suzuki: HEROIC LEON DEFIES PAIN TO TAKE SUPERB PODIUM! Team Suzuki Alstare rider Leon Haslam defied the pain barrier in today’s second Superbike World Championship race at the Nurburgring, taking a superb podium despite a dislocated right thumb and damaged knee ligaments. Leon had crashed at the start of race one, when he was highsided and it was fortunate that the race was red-flagged and he and the other fallers were able to make the restart. His bike was too badly damaged to take part in the restart, so he was forced to use his spare bike – one that he had only used for a handful of laps in practice and qualifying. The set-up and feel of the bike were different to that of his number one bike, but he rode superbly to take a very creditable sixth place. That was impressive enough, but in race two he surprised everybody with his grit, determination and fighting spirit, to take third place at the end of what would have been (for him) a very tough 20-lapper. His reward was a reduction in the gap between him and series leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia) to 58 points, with two rounds and 100 points still up for grabs. It was a bit of a disappointing day for Leon’s team mate Sylvain Guintoli who had qualified on the front row of the grid for the first time this season. The Frenchman was taken out by Troy Corser on the opening lap of race one and was forced into the gravel. He rejoined the action second last, but then fought his way up through the field to take a highly deserved 8th place. In race two, he was unable to capitalise on his front row grid slot and found himself in 8th at the end of the first lap. Once again he powered his way through the pack and slotted in behind Biaggi in 5th. He tried everything he could to get past Biaggi, but his Suzuki’s acceleration was no match for the Aprilia and ended just over two tenths of a second adrift at the flag. Race one had started with a battle between Jonathan Rea (Honda), with Carlos Checa (Ducati) and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati). But after Haga crashed out on lap 8, Rea was able to control the race and comfortably run out the winner. Checa was second, with Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) third. In the second race, Haga redeemed himself by taking the win, over three seconds ahead of Rea, with Leon third. Leon – Race 1: 6th, Race 2: 3rd My crash in race one was a highside and I am sorry that it caused Troy to crash also. Luckily the race was stopped and everybody was able to have another go. I had hurt my right thumb and left knee and they were very sore, but I was determined to get out there and give my all. Once the race started, the adrenaline kicked in and I think I would’ve been much faster and more competitive if it had not been for the fact that I was on my number two bike. The mechanics weren’t able to repair my number one bike in time for the restart. I had only done a few laps on the spare bike and so the set-up wasn’t as good and it was that which prevented me challenging the front guys, not my injuries. The team repaired my number one bike in time for race two and I felt much happier. They and the Clinica Mobile staff did great jobs and it was thanks to both of them that I was able to get on the bike and take a podium. I’m sure I’m going to be pretty sore tonight and although I would’ve wanted a couple of wins today, I was happy to get on the podium and with 100 points possible in the next two rounds, anything can happen. Sylvain – Race 1: 8th, Race 2: 6th Well I’m happy and not happy. I’m happy that I got on the front row in qualifying and that my race pace was good. If Troy had not have forced me out on lap one of the first race, the ending might’ve been a different story. Once I got back on the track, I felt I was lapping as fast as anybody really and I suppose 8th was a pretty good result, considering. I was angry with Troy because I honestly felt I could get on the podium. We changed the rear tyre for race 2, but I didn’t make a good start and that gave me a lot of work to do early on. It took me about half race distance to get close enough to Max (Biaggi) and I then spent the rest of the race trying to pass him. I could match him on the brakes and in the turns OK, but his bike had much better acceleration out of the corners and that’s where I was losing out. I attacked as best I could, but he’s a very experienced rider and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a big pity, because if I could’ve passed him, that would’ve helped Leon and I wanted to do it for him and the team. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Fifth And Seventh A Season High For Sykes The best weekend so far Kawasaki Racing Team rider Tom Sykes gave him a fifth and a seventh place finish on his Ninja ZX-10R, while rookie Ian Lowry added to the positives by going 12th in race one Tom made great use of his seventh place grid position, making strong starts in each race and riding at a consistently high pace throughout. His two strong finishes lifted him to 15th in the overall rankings, with a total of 70 points. Tom equalled his best individual race finish of fifth today, but this was arguably an even more impressive finish than his top five in Monza in May. Lowry had a great race one for a rookie rider, and finished with four points. He fell in race two but only after a set-up change intended to make his lap times even more competitive. Great weather conditions assisted all the riders at this modern classic circuit in the Eifel Mountains of Germany, delivering a level playing field for all comers in practice and on raceday. Tom is now only six points from 14th place, and 15 points from 13th overall, giving him a new target to aim for in the two remaining races of the year. Tom Sykes: “We’ve had quite a strong performance here at the Nürburgring this weekend, from both the Team and myself, and I’m very happy with how it’s all gone. I just wished we could have hang in there a bit more in race two but overall I can’t complain, as it’s our best results for the year. We came here with a good base package and worked well with what we knew was our setting goal so this meant we didn’t need to make big changes, just a few adjustments which are ultimately much easier on a rider. I was able to just focus on fine-tuning the bike and the best tyre combinations to get my ultimate setting. Overall it’s been a massive effort from the team and Kawasaki and although I’d like to thank every individual, I have to give additional thanks to Johnny my crew chief, and Javier from Showa for giving me the best package this weekend, on which I was able to show well in the races and come away with some strong results for Kawasaki.”” Ian Lowry: “I was really excited to have been asked to ride this weekend for the official Kawasaki Racing Team and although I obviously haven’t ridden around the Nürburgring before, or spent much time on the bike, I felt that I started the weekend in pretty good shape. I was really pleased to have finished 12th in race one and get some points for the team but I’m just a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to improve my time and performance in race two, having had a slide off after we took the wrong settings direction. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed my first outing at the World Superbikes with the Kawasaki Racing Team and I hope that I get another opportunity to race with them again.” More, from a press release issued by Team Pedercini: Dry track and sunny weather conditions at the Nurburgring today for the eleventh round of the World Superbike championship. Due to their yesterday results, Hayden started the races from the fifth row while Baiocco from the sixth. Race one was red flagged after only one lap because of a crash in the third curve. Quite a good start for both Pedercini team riders. In the first laps Hayden was seventeenth while Baiocco followed him in nineteenth position. Due to a good rhythm and some crashes at the front Hayden was able to make up some ground and finish the first race in an xcellent thirteenth position. Also Baiocco reached the points zone ending in fourteenth position. In race two Hayden obtained the sixteenth place while Baiocco finished in seventeenth position. Superbike race 1: 1) Rea (Honda) 2) Checa (Ducati) – 3) Crutchlow (Yamaha) 4) Biaggi (Aprilia) 5) Sykes (Kawasaki) “¦.. 13) Hayden (Kawasaki) – 14) Baiocco (Kawasaki) Superbike race 2 : 1) Haga (Ducati) 2) Rea (Honda) 3) Haslam (Suzuki) – 4) Crutchlow (Yamaha) 5) Biaggi (Aprilia)”¦.. 16) Hayden (Kawasaki) 17) Baiocco (Kawasaki). Roger Lee Hayden :” It was not easy at all today. We didn’t find the right grip here this weekend. We worked on the setup of the bike to find a better grip, especially in the rear, but didn’t manage. In any case in race one I collected some good points for my championship standing. We made some changes to the set up for the second race. I started well but wasn’t able to keep up with the speed of the riders in front of me and I ended the race in seventeenth place. We have done our best. We just didn’t find the right level of grip but overall it was not a bad weekend and I enjoy the circuit. And now let’s go to Imola that’s my team home circuit”. Matteo Baiocco :”The second race was better than the first one also if in the first I reached a better result. At the beginning of the weekend we made some adjustments to the bike but it didn’t increase our pace as we hoped. We knew it would be difficult racing here after my yesterday’s results and were pleased to at least obtained two points in the first race. It’s hard to start from the back of the field and my pace was too slow to recover so many positions. Anyway we still continue to grow up and hopefully will be able to reached some good results in the next race starting from the next round in Imola”. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: More, from a press release issued by Honda: German World Superbike at the Nürburgring Sunday September 5 2010 World Superbike and World Supersport race report 5.137km circuit – attendance 45,000 all weekend, claimed Weather: Dry, sunny, cool Temperature 15 to 16 ambient, 26 to 37 track REA WINS AGAIN AND LEAVES GERMANY AS TOP RIDER OF THE DAY Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea took a win in race one at the Nürburgring and made it four victories for the season by holding off the challenge of Carlos Checa in race one. He has now won more races than everyone else except championship leader Max Biaggi. Following up his fabulous front-running performance in race one with second place behind race two winner Noriyuki Haga, Rea left Germany with 45 points for his day’s work, putting himself in a more comfortable third position overall. He now has 288 points to Checa’s 224, and is a much closer 51 points behind Leon Haslam in the championship standings. Biaggi still leads Haslam overall, by 58 points, 397 to 339. After the first attempt to run race one was cancelled, when two riders fell in separate incidents at the same time and the red flags came out, Rea made a great start from fourth place on the grid and headed up the field from the very start. He rode with the calm assurance that has been a signature of most of his WSBK race wins, eventually holding off Carlos Checa by 1.126 seconds and Silverstone race winner Cal Crutchlow by over ten seconds. Max Neukirchner (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) started in 15th grid position and was riding just outside the top ten until he fell. He rejoined the race but finally retired in the pits on lap seven. Rookie rider Fabrizio Lai, from the ECHO CRS Honda team, was forced into the pits on lap 19 of 20 due to a lack of fuel, missing out on a possible points score. Only 14 of the original 21 riders finished the race. In the second 20-lap race of the day, held in relatively warm conditions for this time of year at the Nürburgring, Rea was a comfortable second behind Haga, but could not get away fast enough to stay with the Japanese rider when he made a break alongside eventual faller Checa. Neukirchner battled on to take a point in race two, with Lai a finisher, but scoring no points for 18th place. Laverty Wins His Seventh Of The Year To Close The Gap On Sofuoglu Parkalgar Honda rider Eugene Laverty rode a perfect race after taking pole in qualifying, winning a remarkable seventh race of the season after 19-laps of the 5.173km Nürburgring. He was under pressure from behind almost throughout as season rookie Gino Rea, from the Intermoto Czech Honda team, made himself a shadow for almost the entire race. Rea, who had qualified fifth, had been ranked second in the provisional results, but he was excluded after a technical inspection of his machine, promoting second fastest qualifier Kenan Sofuoglu (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) to second in the race. In the overall rankings Sofuoglu now has 223 points to Laverty’s 211. Rea is still next best official Honda rider despite his no-score today, seventh, on 83 points. The race victory ensured Honda of their eighth consecutive WSS Manufacturers’ Championship today, moving an unassailable 85 points ahead with only two rounds left to run. Massimo Roccoli from the Intermoto Czech Honda team was ninth on the grid and finished seventh in the race, despite the lingering effects of a fever he has been suffering from for several days. He rode in a four-man group, and was third in this mid-race battle. Returning from injury, Michele Pirro from the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team rode around a lack of stamina from his right wrist, which he injured in Brno. Pirro had qualified as he finished in the eventual race ranking, eighth. Parkalgar Honda rider Miguel Praia was 13th in the race, two places up on his qualifying place. He missed the first session with a technical issue and was battling to find full pace as a result. Imola hosts the next, and penultimate, WSBK round of the year on 26 September. WSBK Rider Comments Jonathan Rea, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: Winner and 2nd – 3rd overall. “Great race, great weekend for the team. Already on Friday we were right on the pace, we came out with a bike that was good, really pushed hard, I felt comfortable on it and turned it into a good result so I’m really proud of my team. The pace in race two was similar to race one but Nori was fantastic, he rode an unbelievable race. It’s quite frustrating when you see someone ride away from you like that. A great job for my team this weekend, 45 points overall and I’m really very happy. I’m very consistent now but it’s so frustrating when I see my mid-season form.” Max Neukirchner, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: DNF and 15th – 18th overall. “You can imagine I am not very happy. It’s very strange because yesterday I did really well and went faster much more easily like one and a half seconds faster! Today it just wasn’t possible to get into the corner and turn the bike without the tyre spinning completely. The team has looked at it on the data and they confirm that there was double the amount from yesterday. We changed nothing just put in new tyres and went. Yesterday afternoon the bike felt perfect and today it was a completely different bike. The set up we have now is not bad for me. Not perfect, but not bad. It’s just that with the tyres changing, it’s not possible to go in the top ten.” Fabrizio Lai, ECHO CRS Honda: DNF and 18th No ranking. “In practice I took time to understand the track and the bike as it was my first time with each. It was important for me to finish each race, but we ran out of fuel in race one, as one of the sensors went wrong. I finished race two with no points, but I wanted to record a finish anyway. It was hard to race this championship first time but I enjoyed it.” WSS Rider Comments Eugene Laverty, Parkalgar Honda: Winner 2nd overall. “We needed that and it was not easy. We went a wrong direction with our set-up and the bike was a little loose in the race. I think this was the hardest race of the season for me because Gino pushed me all the way and towards the end of the race I was sliding and having some trouble on the bike so I had to move my weight around. Then I lost some rear grip, so the second half of the race was not pleasant.” Kenan Sofuoglu, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda: 2nd – 1st overall. “I worked very hard in the race and at one time I was able to push closer to the front. But the grip out there today was not so good. We took some good points today and the championship is still open, two more races and we will be trying our best to win them both.” Michele Pirro, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR: 8th – 8th overall. “It was a difficult day because my body is still not perfect. My start was not so bad but in the first corner I was no good because the other riders were very strong and because of my injury it was impossible for me to risk a crash again. I was 15th, but after that the feeling was better and I passed some riders, even if it was quite hard to overtake. I am happy because I finished and now I have two more weeks to rest my wrist before Imola.” Massimo Roccoli, Czech Intermoto Honda: 7th 12th overall. “Today was not a good race but I was ill last week, with fever and sickness, and had to have some medicine yesterday. We still made a good qualifying, but I had a bad time in the first corner, and it was important not to crash. I arrived near fifth place, which is not bad.” Miguel Praia, Parkalgar Honda: 13th – 13th overall. “We missed the first practice session with a small problem and that did not give us enough time to get to where we wanted to be. But we were good in warm-up and in the race I was fighting in a group for sixth. They were a bit faster than me, because the front was not as I expected, so I did not have the confidence to go into corners as strong as some other riders could.” Gino Rea, Intermoto Czech Honda: Disqualified 7th overall. “It is really disappointing to not get any points because we have been improving the bike, the package and me as a rider. So as the season has gone on we just found some good settings for the bike and they worked here from the beginning. There was not so much grip today, and I had to push the front as well, as Eugene was really fast in the corners.” More, from a press release issued by Xerox Ducati: NORIYUKI HAGA (DUCATI XEROX) RUNS RINGS AROUND THE COMPETITION TO WIN RACE 2 IN GERMANY The Nürburgring (Germany), Sunday 4th September: Ducati Xerox factory rider Noriyuki Haga returned to winning ways today, with a stunning victory in Race 2 at the Nurburgring. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio was not so fortunate, forced to retire from both races. The factory pair had made a determined start to race day, closing the early morning warm-up in second (Fabrizio) and third (Haga) position. The start of Race 1 did not go to plan however when Leon Haslam and Troy Corser fell at the first corner, causing a red flag and a restart of the race half an hour later, with riders reverting to their original grid positions. Noriyuki got away well, moving up to third place through the first corner. Quickly passing Carlos Checa on the privateer Ducati, the Japanese rider held second position until the end of the seventh lap when he unexpectedly lost the front of his machine. Unhurt, he hoped to be able to return to the track and returned to the box to fix a damaged handlebar but unfortunately damaged mufflers meant that it was too dangerous to continue and the team decided to retire. Haga’s team-mate Fabrizio was no luckier in the first race. Having lost a couple of positions at the start, he quickly made these back up, to find himself seventh after two laps. Unfortunately, however, during lap four, Michel too came off, losing the front; he managed to get back on the bike and was beginning to make up ground until throttle damage caused during the crash made it impossible to continue and forced the Italian rider to return to the garage. Later in the afternoon and on a slightly warmer track, Race 2 got under way without interruptions. Haga again got off the line like a missile, projecting himself to second position at the first corner. He soon got past Carlos Checa to take the lead and, after Checa’s unlucky crash a few laps later, the Japanese rider was able to gradually increase the gap between himself and Jonathan Rea (Honda), eventually crossing the line with more than three seconds of advantage to take the 43rd Superbike win of his career. Michel, caught up in traffic, lost ground and was in eleventh position at the end of the opening lap. Mid-race he began to suffer from vibration and lack of grip, a problem which led him to return to the garage for a rear tyre-change; in doing this the Italian rider lost valuable time and was unable to reach the points zone, closing in nineteenth position. With this win, Noriyuki celebrates the 110th podium of his career, moving ahead of Carl Fogarty (109) in the all time standings. Only Troy Corser has seen more success with 129 podiums scored to date. Noriyuki is now sixth in the championship standings with 202 points, Michel tenth with 160. Ducati, having earned 45 points today thanks to Noriyuki’s and Carlos Checa’s results, is third in the manufacturers standings. Noriyuki Haga (Race 1 DNF, Race 2 – winner) “First of all I want to say how happy I am to be back up here. After the Race 1 crash I went straight back to the garage in the hope that my technicians could adjust the bike so that I could continue but unfortunately there was too much damage to the mufflers and I had to stop there. We made some modifications to the front suspension and the bike behaved a lot better in Race 2. I maintained a strong pace for the entire race and was able to get the job done! I’m sorry for Carlos because it’s always great to battle against him. Now I’d like to repeat this great result at Imola, Ducati’s home track.” Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 DNF, Race 2 19th) “A black day. In Race 1 I got straight back on the bike thinking that I could carry on and finish in the points zone. Then I realized that there was a problem with the throttle and, as I couldn’t open or close the gas properly, I had to return to the garage. It’s a pity because I was making up some ground before the crash and had good pace. Race 2 didn’t go any better I had to come in to change the rear tyre but in doing that I lost too much ground and there wasn’t anything I could do.” More, from a press release issued by Team PATA/B&G Racing: The PATA B&G Racing team gathered five points in Germany today thanks to Jakub Smrz’s eleventh place in race 2. The result did not fully satisfy the team, who was aiming for a better result, but once again the lack of luck prevented them from doing that. Smrz got a very good start in race 1 to take seventh place, but the red flag was displayed after a contact between Haslam and Corser. The rider from the Czech Republic had to do it all again, but was not able to repeat himself due to a clutch issue and lost a few positions. He fought back nonetheless to make it into the top ten. Unfortunately, while trying to catch up with the rider in front of him, he crashed and hurt his forearm. The injury heavily influenced his performance in race 2, where he had trouble under braking and changing direction, with his right arm stiffening up, which made him lose fluidity. Lorenzo Baroni had to retire as well due to a crash caused by a contact between his front wheel and a rival’s back wheel, who had closed on him. JAKUB SMRZ | Aprilia RSV4 | retired, 11th: “We made another step forward in knowing the bike. We could’ve done well here too, unfortunately even a small problem can affect your performance in a close competition like this one. Both the injury I suffered in race 1 and a brake issue later on slowed me down a little in race 2. However, I would like to thank the team for their hard work, hopefully it will bear fruit next time at Imola”. LORENZO BARONI | Ducati 1098R | retired: “I maintained position at the start, unfortunately the engine had a drop in performance, which made me lose a few places. However, I could’ve finished in the points zone, but I hit another bike and crashed to the ground”.