Salt Lake City – Mixed emotions at the end of the Miller race weekend. On the one hand satisfaction with the team having demonstrated a pace equal to (or beyond”¦) that of the others, but on the other hand great disappointment, with Carlos Checa forced to retire from both races. Shane Byrne was back on form, taking nineteen valuable points home from this race weekend. In Race 1, Carlos Checa was impeccable, making a great start that allowed him to quickly pass Biaggi and take the lead. Having held this lead for seventeen laps, in which he built a 1.6 second advantage over Max, the Spanish rider’s bike unexpectedly stopped due to an electronic problem, depriving Carlos of almost certain victory. Race 2 sadly came to the same bitter end, when Carlos was leading with a two second advantage, again over Biaggi. During the eighth lap Checa retired from the race, with Ducati citing a mechanical problem. “Everything went well: the work, the preparation, the performance, the passion, the race, the team”, said Carlos. “Yet unfortunately the results did not come. It’s never happened before! We were strong and I will leave here with my head held high. I will immediately turn the page and concentrate on the upcoming tests in Misano and the next race, where I know we can do well. That’s racing”¦” Shane Byrne didn’t make a good start to Race 1 and was in last position on the second lap. From there the English rider started to push and lap by lap he gained, until reaching Luca Scassa on the final lap. Lapping with similar times to the frontrunners, Byrne got past the Italian to finish in sixth position. In Race 2 Shane was in eleventh position for a good part of the race and then, from mid-race, began to fight back, to eventually close in seventh place. “The bike felt very good and I was happy with the set-up”, said Shane. “I found that the level of grip varied between race 1 and race 2, it was better in the first. But I’ve taken some good points and this makes me more determined as we enter the second half of the Championship.” Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager of Althea Racing declared, “After the results seen in the sessions and, above all, the laps in which we led the races, we are of course disappointed with Carlos’ results. However, as he himself said, we need to turn the page and once we understand the reasons for today’s events we will concentrate on preparing for Misano, where we can do well. Shane is continuing to improve and I believe that he too can be a main player at the Italian round. Our morale has taken a blow but Carlos’ laps as race leader have given us confidence. There are going to be days like these in racing but we’ll be back and fighting at Misano.” RACE 1 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’20.442 (161,26 kph) – 2. Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSXR1000 4.931 – 3 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 6.432 – 4. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 8.576 – 5. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 11.150 – 6. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 11.243… RET Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R RACE 2 1. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’17.842 (161,442 kph) – 2. Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 5.899 – 3. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha R1 7.363 – 4. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 8.842 – 5. Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 9.473 – 6. Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 12.293 – 7. Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 12.483… RET Checa C. (ESP) Ducati 1098R CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Biaggi p. 257 – 2. Haslam p. 242 – 3. Rea p. 151 – 4. Checa p. 141 – 5. Haga p. 135 … 12. Byrne p. 81 More, from a press release issued by Aprilia: DOUBLE ONE-TWO VICTORY. “¢ MAX BIAGGI WINS RACE 2 AS WELL AND LEON CAMIER IS SECOND. “¢ MAX PASSES HASLAM AND TAKES COMMAND OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP “¢ APRILIA AT THE HEAD OF MANUFACTURER STANDINGS ABSOLUTE VICTORY FOR APRILIA ALITALIA RACING TEAM ON AMERICAN SOIL Miller Motorsports Park Utah, USA Max Biaggi is the new leader in the World Superbike rankings. He took the lead with his win in a race 2 (doubling the success of race 1) which was conducted to perfection and which, for the Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team was triumphant thanks to Leon Camier’s second place and the top spot in manufacturer standings. At the start on the track at Miller Motorsports Park – Utah, the riders followed the same script as race 1: Carlos Checa (Ducati) courageously escaping and Biaggi chasing after him. Once again, the two gave the impression that they would be racing their own private race ahead of the pack. But a mechanical failure, this time in the seventh lap, again stole the scene from Checa. With the group already far behind and 2/3 of the race still to be run, Max set his course always keeping the pursuers at a distance thanks to a consistent fast pace and to excellent management of the advantage. Over his shoulder Leon Camier battled first with Corser (BMW) and then with Crutchlow (Yamaha) to claw his way into second place, his second podium and best yet placing in World SBK. With this victory Biaggi passed Haslam (victim of a fall while battling somewhere around sixth place) at the top of the world standings. Max now has 257 points against the Suzuki rider’s 242. And it doesn’t stop there: the double win takes Aprilia to the top of manufacturer standings: 263 points for Aprilia against Suzuki’s 252. After celebratory embraces with the entire team, Max Biaggi commented: “Two fantastic races. Nothing more would need to be said. We set up the weekend well, working a lot to take best advantage of the potential of the RSV4 on this beautiful circuit. Again in race 2 Checa immediately set a frantic pace, but I had more of a feeling than in race 1, so I think that I would have played it out down to the end anyway. I managed the advantage well. I must be thankful because this double win is to the credit of the entire Team and the guys who work at Noale, who give me the best possible support. I think the American fans had a good time as well. Today is an important day for us, but my mind is already on the next round. To make it to the lead spot in the standings is extremely important, but there is still a long season ahead of us, so… we’ll keep our feet on the ground”. Leon Camier, also honoured for his second place: “It couldn’t have gone any better than this. I rode a second race which was pushed to the maximum. The modifications to my RSV4 worked. Max had a better pace, so my goal is to keep working and growing so that I can stay up front. A double victory is always something magic, particularly this one which is the first for Aprilia. I hope I can give more of this kind of excitement to both the fans and the entire Team”. Gigi Dall’Igna, technical and sport director of Aprilia Racing: “The first double victory in the new Aprilia SBK adventure takes on even more significance because it comes just a year and a half after the début of our RSV4. I cannot help but thank all of the people involved in this project. Taking two bikes ahead of everybody, ahead of very strong adversaries and manufacturers with so much experience in this championship makes us very hopeful for the rest of the season even though the World championship is still long and difficult”. Finishing order Race 2 1st M. Biaggi (Aprilia) – 38’17.842 2nd L. Camier (Aprilia) – 38’23.741 3rd C. Crutchlow (Yamaha) – 38’25.205 4th N. Haga (Ducati) – 38’26.684 5th Corser (BMW) – 38’27.315 More, from a press release issued by Team PATA/B&G Racing: It was a day to forget for team PATA B&G Racing as Smrz was not able to gather any points. After taking the pole position on Friday and qualifying fourth on the grid on Saturday, Jakub Smrz started race 1 with the right determination, but after less than one lap, he was forced to retire due to a broken engine. “Kuba” started race 2 eager to do well but did not make a good start, losing several positions. The front runners were building a consistent gap , while the group in contention for sixth to twelfth places stayed compact. The Czech was once again unable to finish the race due a technical problem, with three laps left in the race. JAKUB SMRZ | Ducati 1098R | retired, retired: “We didn’t get any luck. I thought I could do well, everything was going my way until race 1, but once again we couldn’t achieve our goal . Next up is Misano which is another track I feel comfortable at, I hope to redeem myself in front of the Italian crowd”. Superbike – Race 1 1 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’20.442 (161,26 kph) 2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Suzuki GSX-R1000 4.931 3 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 6.432 4 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 8.576 5 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 11.150 6 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 11.243 7 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 12.432 8 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 15.145 9 52 Toseland J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 16.091 10 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 16.502 11 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 18.719 12 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 24.285 13 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 36.479 14 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 39.700 15 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 41.253 RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R Superbike – Race 2 1 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 38’17.842 (161,442 kph) 2 2 Camier L. (GBR) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 5.899 3 35 Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 7.363 4 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 8.842 5 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 9.473 6 50 Guintoli S. (FRA) Suzuki GSX-R1000 12.293 7 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 12.483 8 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 15.959 9 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 18.897 10 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 20.372 11 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 26.823 12 76 Neukirchner M. (GER) Honda CBR1000RR 30.344 13 77 Vermeulen C. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 33.337 14 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 38.772 15 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Honda CBR1000RR 44.994 RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R SBK Riders Standings: 1 M. Biaggi ITA 257 2 L. Haslam GBR 242 3 J. Rea GBR 151 4 C. Checa ESP 141 5 N. Haga JPN 135 6 J. Toseland GBR 132 7 T. Corser AUS 127 8 L. Camier GBR 115 9 C. Crutchlow GBR 107 10 M. Fabrizio ITA 102 11 S. Guintoli FRA 95 12 S. Byrne GBR 81 13 J. Smrz CZE 61 14 R. Xaus ESP 53 15 T. Sykes GBR 42 More, from a press release issued by ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing: Team ParkinGO Triumph BE1 Racing scored a great team result in the US, gathering 31 points overall, as Chaz Davies finished fourth, David Salom took seventh place, Jason Di Salvo was eleventh and Matthieu Lagrive twelfth. From the first few laps, the pack split into three separate groups: the first one made up of the riders who eventually finished on the podium, behind them a group of six riders, including Chaz Davies and David Salom, who battled for fourth to ninth positions, and, further behind, the remaining riders. Chaz Davies yet again made a good start taking third place, while Salom, who started side by side, did not get a very good start and dropped to tenth place. Sofuoglu, Laverty and Lascorz were comfortably leading the race after a few more laps. Davies, who was temporarily fifth, took back the lead of the group and held on until the chequered flag, with Pirro unable to pass him for the entire race, in spite of the fact that his factory Honda had higher overall speed. Salom fought back and was close to finishing behind his teammate, but the tyres worn out, He passed the chequered flag 1 second and 4 tenths behind him. Di Salvo and Lagrive almost finished side by side, battling for tenth place in the final sprint with Fabien Foret’s Kawasaki. CHAZ DAVIES | Triumph Daytona 675 | 4th : “I’m very happy with the result, it was a very tough race, but I held on. The engine suffered a drop in performance and I wasn’t able to be as fast as usually, which meant I had to push harder under braking and lost contact with the front runners. However, I managed to consolidate my fourth position in the overall standings with these 13 points”. DAVID SALOM | Triumph Daytona 675 | 7th : “I didn’t get a good start, probably because I chose to put soft tyres on, unlike the rest of the group. I couldn’t get in the leading pack in the beginning, I lost several positions and had to sweat it out for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, the tyre was worn out in the last few laps and I wasn’t able to attack Fujiwara and Pirro”. JASON DI SALVO | Triumph Daytona 675 | 11th : “I finally gathered some points after the two previous races when I didn’t make it to the finish line. I battled with Foret until the end but he passed me in the final sprint”. MATTHIEU LAGRIVE | Triumph Daytona 675 | 12th : “Unfortunately, I was very weak because of the flu and so I focused on finishing the race, trying to gather as many points as possible”. Supersport Race: 1 54 Sofuoglu K. (TUR) Honda CBR600RR 33’45.278 (157,002 kph) 2 50 Laverty E. (IRL) Honda CBR600RR 1.028 3 26 Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX-6R 1.673 4 7 Davies C. (GBR) Triumph Daytona 675 13.209 5 51 Pirro M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 14.209 6 37 Fujiwara K. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX-6R 14.386 7 25 Salom D. (ESP) Triumph Daytona 675 14.603 8 127 Harms R. (DEN) Honda CBR600RR 20.582 9 4 Rea G. (GBR) Honda CBR600RR 22.895 10 99 Foret F. (FRA) Kawasaki ZX-6R 27.100 11 40 DiSalvo J. (USA) Triumph Daytona 675 27.211 12 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Triumph Daytona 675 28.293 13 55 Roccoli M. (ITA) Honda CBR600RR 28.393 14 117 Praia M. (POR) Honda CBR600RR 41.986 15 5 Lundh A. (SWE) Honda CBR600RR 48.402 Riders Standings: 1 K. Sofuoglu TUR 142 2 E. Laverty IRL 136 3 J. Lascorz ESP 128 4 C. Davies GBR 84 5 M. Pirro ITA 58 6 D. Salom ESP 58 7 G. Rea GBR 54 8 R. Harms DEN 51 9 K. Fujiwara JPN 48 10 M. Lagrive FRA 44 11 F. Foret FRA 34 12 M. Roccoli ITA 32 13 M. Praia POR 31 14 A. Lundh SWE 23 15 J. DiSalvo USA 21 More, from a press release issued by Troy Corser’s publicist: TROY NOT SATISFIED WITH A PAIR OF FIFTHS. Despite taking a pair of fifth places at the Miller Motorsports Park, Troy didn’t leave the Utah circuit in a happy frame of mind. He made good starts from the fourth row of the grid in both races and was even second in race two at the first turn. But once again small problems appeared and he was forced to ease the pace and so lose out on a podium. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) won both 21-lap races today, but was lucky to do so. Carlos Checa (Ducati) comfortably led the two races, but was forced to retire in both, leaving Biaggi easy runs to the flags. Biaggi’s double today moved him into the championship lead, fifteen points ahead of Leon Haslam (Suzuki) who finished second in race one, but DNF’d in race two. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) took third spot in the first race and race two’s podium saw Leon Camier (Aprilia) take second, ahead of Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha). Troy – Race 1: 5th, Race 2: 5th In any other circumstances a pair of fifths might have been a good result, but I’m not happy because it could’ve been so much better today. I made good starts from the fourth row of the grid in both races, though race two was much the better for sure, as I was second going into turn one! I was pretty comfortable in second and thought to myself that I could stick there without a problem. Then, at about half race distance, I started to get a bit of chatter. It was controllable, but only if I eased the pace. If I ran at 1:50 or so, everything was OK, but if I tried to go faster my lap times got worse! I had a couple of real front-enders at the hairpins, but managed to stay onboard both times, but I could’ve easily crashed. Today was very frustrating and that’s why I am a bit disappointed. Today the tyres were consistent, but our bike lacked top speed, especially compared to the Aprilias and Ducatis – especially the Aprilias! I still think that our problem at the moment is a chassis problem (mechanical) and that’s something we will have to sort out back at the workshops. Don’t forget that after Monza the bikes went straight to South Africa and then straight on here, so there’s been no time to make any big changes. There’s not going to be an awful lot of time before our next outing, because we have some tests before and after the Misano race, so once again, it’s going to be hard to get the bikes back quickly and get the work done in time. Hopefully, the team will be able to sort out this problem and then I will be able to push hard throughout the whole race. That’s what I am looking forward to.