Polar, PDV and Roadracingworld.com-sponsored Robertino Pietri won the 2006 Latin American Superbike Championship with two calculated third-place finishes Sunday at Turagua, near Maracay, Venezuela.
Pietri picked up his crashed bike and charged back from last place after being punted off the racetrack by Columbian Supermoto Champion Cesar Tellez early in the first race, then ran a steady third in the second race to clinch the title in the two-event, four-race series; Pietri won both races at San Carlos last weekend.
The Latin American Superbike Championship races also counted toward the concurrently run Venezuelan Superbike Championship, which Pietri leads. That title will be decided in a final race in two weeks, at Turagua.
Two-time and defending Venezuelan Superbike Champion Fernando Amantini won the first race Sunday, with Tellez second just ahead of Pietri; Tellez won the second race and Amantini finished second, well ahead of cruising-for-points Pietri.
Armando Ferrer won the Latin American Supersport Championship despite losing his drive chain three laps from the finish of the second of two Supersport races at Turagua. Ferrer had won both Supersport races at San Carlos and had finished a close second to Juan Carlos Lavado in the first race at Turagua; Lavado also won the second Supersport race at Turagua, with Victor Chirinos in second place in the race and second in the Championship as well.
Chirinos rode a borrowed Kawasaki ZX-6RR because his racebike was too heavily damaged in a crash during qualifying Saturday afternoon; the crash happened when a front brake caliper fell off his bike because a mechanic had left the mounting bolts loose.
FIM Latin American Superbike Championship FMV Venezuelan Superbike Championship Turagua, Venezuela November 26, 2006 Race One 1. Fernando Amantini, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-10R, 22 laps, 24:15.824 2. Cesar Tellez, Columbia, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -8.660 seconds 3. Robertino Pietri, Venezuela, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -8.872 4. Franco Pellegrino, Venezuela, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -43.235 5. Nirio Rivero, Cuba, Yamaha YZF-R1, -46.636 6. Ricardo Sune, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-10R, -65.052 7. Franklin Reveron, Venezuela, Honda CBR1000RR, -68.123 8. Claudio Torres, Venezuela, Honda CBR1000RR, -1 lap 9. Jose Neda, Venezuela, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -8 laps, DNF 10. Manuel Bello, Venezuela, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -21 laps, DNF Fastest lap, Pietri, 1:04.949
FIM Latin American Superbike Championship FMV Venezuelan Superbike Championship Turagua, Venezuela November 26, 2006 Race Two 1. Tellez, 22 laps, 24:08.206 2. Amantini, -0.986 second 3. Pietri, -11.676 seconds 4. Rivero, -58.774 5. Sune, -1 lap 6. Reveron, -1 lap 7. Torres, -2 laps 8. Bello, -3 laps 9. Pellegrino, -6 laps, DNF Fastest Lap, Telles, 1:04.855
FIM Latin American Superbike Championship Final Points After 4 of 4 races 1. Robertino Pietri, 82 2. Cesar Tellez, 81 3. Fernando Amantini, 65 4. Franco Pellegrino, 42 5. Franklin Reveron, 42 6. Nirio Rivero, 35 7. Ricardo Sune, 32 8. Claudio Torres, 17 9. Jose Neda, 10 10. Manuel Bello, 8
FMV Venezuelan Superbike Championship Point Standings After 5 of 6 races 1. Pietri, 107 2. Tellez, 97 3. Amantini, 85 4. Reveron, 55 5. Pellegrino, 52 6. Sune, 43 7. Rivero, 38 8. Torres, 24 9. Neda, 16 10. Bello, 12
FIM Latin American Supersport Championship FMV Venezuelan Supersport Championship Turagua, Venezuela November 26, 2006 Race One 1. Juan Carlos Lavado, Venezuela, Honda CBR600RR, 22 laps, 24:59.314 2. Armando Ferrer, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -0.272-second 3. Jacquel Gonzalez, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -24.952 seconds 4. Victor Chirinos, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -32.731 5. Alexander Rodriguez, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -33.054 6. Carlos Gulfo, Venezuela, Suzuki GSX-R600, -70.727 7. Juan Carlos Rodriguez, Venezuela, Kawasaki ZX-6RR, -72.716 8. Marcos Mojica, Venezuela, Honda CBR600RR, -1 lap 9. Mauricio Tierradentro, Venezuela, Yamaha YZF-R6, -2 laps 10. Andres Anaude, Venezuela, Yamaha YZF-R6, -7 laps Fastest Lap, Ferrer, 1:07.126
FIM Latin American Supersport Championship FMV Venezuelan Supersport Championship Turagua, Venezuela November 26, 2006 Race Two 1. Lavado, 22 laps, 25:09.429 2. Chirinos, -15.733 seconds 3. Boccardo, -18.256 4. A. Rodriguez, -21.135 5. Gonzalez, -27.525 6. Gulfo, -1 lap 7. Mojica, -1 lap 8. Ferrer, -3 laps, DNF, mechanical 9. Anuade. -12 laps, DNF Fastest Lap, Lavado, 1:07.422
FIM Latin American Supersport Championship Final Points After 4 of 4 races 1. Ferrer, 70 2. Chirinos, 62 points 3. Lavado, 59 4. A. Rodriguez, 50 5. Gonzalez, 49
FMV Venezuelan Supersport Championship Point Standings After 5 of 6 races 1. Lavado, 84 2. Ferrer, 80 3. Chirinos, 70 4. Gulfo, 62 5. A. Rodriguez, 61