WORLDSBK.COM - bis 20.06.2011

[WORLDSBK.COM]

Chaz Davies (Yamaha ParkinGO) took his first win in the WSS category after heading up a 16-lap race that was restarted twice after red flag incidents.

Second was Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) some seven seconds back, with third closely place contested but eventually taken by Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com). Robbin Harms (Harms Benjan Racing Honda) went fourth.

In the championship standings, crashes from some of the leading contenders closed up the points totals, with Davies' team-mate Luca Scassa still leading on 50, Parkes on 47, and Davies on 45.

 

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A delayed start to the second Assen race made no difference to the outcome, as Checa and Biaggi played a high-speed game of cat-and-mouse. Biaggi looking to have it wrapped up as he passed long time leader Checa, only for the Spanish rider to reassert himself on the final lap and win his fourth race of the year.

A battle between Rea and Melandri ended when the Italian star fell, leaving Rea on the podium in third. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) was fourth, while a multiple rider fight for fifth went to Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), from Laverty, Fabrizio, Haga, Smrz and Guintoli.

In the points standings Checa now leads by 132 to Biaggi's 89. Melandri is third on 85, Rea jumping to fourth with his new total of 79 points.

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Max Biaggi chose the best way possible to leave behind his Donington weekend on Sunday, with two more podiums in second place, to add to the same results he achieved in the opening round of the season. Despite a couple of misadventures, including a nasty-looking crash in FP2 just before Superpole, the reigning champion finished behind Jonathan Rea in race 1 and Carlos Checa after the break. The 40 points took him back into second place, and Biaggi is now 43 points behind leader Checa.

After a problematic weekend Biaggi actually only dropped one point to Checa, and despite not getting the win in race 2, which looked likely when he passed Checa for the lead a couple of laps before the end, the Italian is now looking forward to Monza, where he had two totally unrivalled wins last year.

"We reaped the maximum," commented Biaggi, "especially considering what we went through on Saturday. Unfortunately we had to make a forced choice of tyres with our RSV4. I would not have been able to use the softer tyres that Checa chose. When I overtook him in Race 2 I pushed to the limit, but I just didn't have the grip to hold onto first place. The advantage of the two cylinders in being able to use softer tyres is important on a track like this one, besides the fact that I had a technical problem for the last 5 or 6 laps in Race 2."

"In any case I have to thank my Team. After the crash and at the end of Race 1 the work they did allowed me to use the first bike which I liked a lot better. I'm happy with second place. We still need to make up a lot of points, but we won't let up. Monza could be an important race from this point of view".

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WorldSBK.com takes a quick look at the facts & figures that emerged from the third round of the Superbike World Championship at Assen.

Superbike

• Another great weekend for Carlos Checa: the Spaniard scored his third straight pole, has won four of the six races run in 2011 and has been on the podium in every race this season. It was Checa's 25th all-time SBK podium and he is currently on a ten-race streak in the points;

• Jonathan Rea obtained his seventh career win, reaching Ben Bostrom in 25th place. Jonathan also scored his 20th podium with third place in race two. The British rider has won three of the last four races run at Assen. With him Honda won its 110th race, second in the all-time rankings behind Ducati (295);

• Max Biaggi with two second places in Assen became the tenth rider in history to have scored at least 50 podium finishes. At the top of the list is Troy Corser, with 130 podiums;

• First career fastest lap both for Leon Camier and Tom Sykes. A Kawasaki hasn't set a fastest race lap since Sugo 2000, eleven years ago: at the time the fastest in the race was Hitoyasu Izutsu;

• First career points for Maxime Berger, thirteenth in race two;

• Noriyuki Haga with a fourth spot in qualifying gained his first placement on the front row since the Imola races of two years ago;

• First front row spot for Eugene Laverty.

Supersport and Superstock

• First win for Chaz Davies in Supersport, in his nineteenth race and first fastest lap for Luca Scassa;

• First Superstock 1000 pole for Sylvain Barrier, first win for Davide Giugliano in his 30th race and first podium for Danilo Petrucci. Ducati hasn't won in Superstock 1000 since the Portimao round back in 2009;

• First podium, pole and fastest lap for Jed Metcher in Superstock 600, first Australian to score pole in this category;

• First win for Michael van der Mark: a Dutch rider hasn't won in Superstock 600 since the 2007 Vallelunga race (Roy Ten Napel).

 

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Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director Pirelli Moto, sums up the third round of the 2011 Superbike World Championship from the point of view of the championship's one-make tyre supplier.

"Assen is a fantastically flowing circuit with smooth asphalt for which Pirelli made available 4 front and 4 rear Diablo Superbike tyres to the SBK class, including both Soft and Medium options for cold and warmer conditions; an overall allotment of 4,604 tyres including those to support the first round of the Superstock classes. The focuses at this spring race were durability and stability rather than pure performance, offered through an increased mechanical grip that requires slightly more set-up time. Throughout practice and qualifying, temperatures never exceeded 20°C on the asphalt whilst on race day we saw nearly 30°C, making tyre choice very critical. In Race 1 Sykes (Kawasaki), Xaus (Honda) and Guintoli (Ducati) opted for the Soft (A) rear tyre for their bike set-up, despite having had some trouble managing tyre wear, unlike Fabrizio (Suzuki), whose team's bike set-up was focused on the Soft and he brought home a 5th and 7th place. It was a great performance by Rea (Honda) on the Soft (SC1) front and Medium rear at his team's home track, adding to his double-win here last year. In Race 2 a seven seconds faster measured race time (35'38.693) vs. 2010, where Checa (Ducati) demonstrated an ideal usage of the Soft (A) rear tyre he changed to for the second race. In Supersport the race saw a few rider errors and red flags, leaving Scassa (Yamaha) unable to finish but it gave a chance to Parkes (Kawasaki), who switched to the Soft (SC1) rear after the red flag to find podium performance, behind Davies (Yamaha) and Foret (Honda). In Superstock 600 the first race of the season left a new track record of 1'40.941, one second faster, set by new Australian entrant Metcher (Yamaha) on Diablo Supercorsa tyres available to our everyday dealer network."

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Following his first WSBK win at Donington, Marco Melandri arrived at Assen hoping to be one of the protagonists and make up ground on leader Checa. Unfortunately the Italian could only come away with a fourth place in race 1, to add to his two crashes at vital moments of the weekend. The first was in Superpole 3, which led to him starting from the second row, and the second in race 2 as he was aiming for the podium.

Melandri is now 47 points off the top slot in the standings, but at least the team managed to make some improvements on the Yamaha YZF-R1 in view of the next round of the season at the team's home circuit of Monza.

"I got a bad start in race one and seemed to be losing feeling in the rear of the bike," said Melandri. "By the time I had regained feeling and a good race pace it was too late to push for the podium. In Race two the bike seemed to have a better set up and I managed to get a good start off the grid. I closed in on the leading pack but after the first ten laps I started losing grip in the rear tyre. I was keeping an eye on Rea and was planning to close in on him in the last laps but unfortunately without even realizing it, I lost the front and crashed out. I'm very disappointed with this and hope it doesn't happen again."

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Jonathan Rea's win in race 1 on Sunday took the Castrol Honda colours, now newly-branded with the Dutch Ten Kate squad, back to the top slot for the first time since Colin Edwards did the job in 2002. It was also a third successive win at Assen for the Northern Ireland youngster and undoubtedly helped to bring him back into contention in this year's title race after a difficult period.

Rea then followed the win up with a precious third place in race 2, results that hauled him up into fourth place in the championship standings, 53 points down on leader Checa. The 24 year-old will now be aiming to continue his positive form at Monza and make up ground on current second-placed man, Max Biaggi, just ten points ahead.

"First and foremost, I'm really proud to give the famous Castrol Honda name the first victory on its comeback to this championship. We spent all weekend developing the bike for the races, and that strategy paid off. I got a good start but couldn't decide whether to let Max past and let him dictate the pace. In the end I made the right decision to stay in front and take the win. We had to dig deep in race two because I got held up for a while and the front guys got away. I was matching their lap times but we ran into some tyre problems later in the race. I'm really happy with the weekend though, and really grateful to everyone who has helped to get me here - it's been a long hard winter coming back from injury. The team has worked really well and that's exactly the right sort of confidence and momentum that we need to take to the next races. I'm happy to be back where I belong, in the winners' circle, and I look forward to trying to get more wins for the team. "

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Three races into the season Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) sits fifth in the championship standings, only 21 points from second place rider Max Biaggi. Already on the podium in the first race at Phillip Island, Haslam has a sequence of finishes which read third, fifth, fourth, fourth, 12th and fifth - a degree of consistency which is the envy of some other potential top runners.

Having swapped from Suzuki last year, Leon has taken much valuable current knowledge of the ways of a modern day four-cylinder racebike to BMW with him, and he is now busy working with the manufacturer to capture that elusive first race win for the S1000RR WSBK machine.

How has the early season been so far for you, compared to the way you expected it to?

"It has been tougher, especially after last year, always being on podiums and battling with the guys up front relatively easily. For this year we have a bit of work and development to do with the bike and the team. From that side of the things it is quite exciting, but obviously hard work at the minute, trying to grind out results and trying to make it the best situation we can."

BMW are obviously a massive company, and you have had lots of testing, but you still seem to be fighting against some problems? What is the reason?

"It is always a combination of things with racing. It's really fine-tuning what we have got and we can produce a fast lap because we have been qualifying second and third and fourth and so on. We can do one fast lap, but for all race distance it is another thing. It is sensitive to temperature changes and grip levels, and if things change our bike seems to get affected quite a lot. That is the biggest thing that we are trying to manage more than anything."

The electronics on the racebike are all done by BMW, so are they going in the right development direction with that side of things?

"The electronics system we use is BMW's own and the system itself does absolutely anything and everything that you want. It is probably more advanced than any system I have ever used before but it is what you put inside the system that obviously makes the difference. That is what we are playing around with as well as the fact that the chassis changes the electronics and different engine characteristics change the electronics. The all-round package is to get the right electronics/engine/chassis to work together not against each other. The team has only been racing two years so what they are doing is quite unbelievable but at the same time it is taking time, which any new development does."

Next up for Haslam is the Monza race, where the expected high top speed of the Aprilia and Yamaha machines may be his most immediate obstacle to lifting his first win in BMW colours.

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Following the anti-doping briefings for riders in Jerez, Spain, the FIM Medical Director, Dr David McManus and Evelyne Magnin, the FIM Anti-Doping Coordinator then met with the riders from the FIM Superbike/Supersport World Championships & the FIM Superstock 1000cc World Cup, in Assen, the Netherlands.

Dr McManus stated: "This is another important opportunity to meet with the riders at the highest level of our sport because we are aware that there is concern, anxiety and uncertainty about aspects of anti-doping. It is an opportunity for us to clarify a lot of the issues, provide explanations and reassurance about what is the FIM anti-doping programme".

Following a presentation, the riders actively participated in a very open, informative and useful discussion during which they asked many questions and requested clarification on a number of points.

Marco Melandri : "I am very happy with this first meeting on anti-doping as I think that there is not so much knowledge among riders and that we are not very competent in this field. Also I think that it is more important for us to know better the motorbike than to take prohibited substances to be faster. This meeting was a good start. It is very important to continue to fight together for a clean sport."

Carlos Checa: "I think that it is good information to be able to enter the world of anti-doping and to show that our sport is a clean sport. I sincerely believe that no substances can make you go faster but it is only the technical aspects such as your ability, your learning, the team, the motorbike which all together can make you go faster. I think that for the young riders who ignore the fact that substances can harm their health, this kind of information meeting is very interesting and useful."

Ruben Xaus: "There are many products on the market and we have no information. I think that this sport is a combination of men's work, engines, machines and we have not used any of the products to make us better because the technical aspects, the development of the motorbike are really what make the difference. It is important to know this as the young riders with internet access can be misinformed and could buy inappropriate products. The young riders can trust us, the old ones, who made it without anything. Eating well, keeping healthy and exercise are necessary to succeed in sports."

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Featuring 14 to 17 year old racers riding identically prepared Kawasaki Ninja 250R's the inaugural round of the European Junior Cup was certain to provide exciting racing and it did not disappoint. Despite his young years 15 year old Tom Busch rode like a seasoned professional to take victory.

The early part of the race saw pole man, Australian Matt Davies, setting the pace with heated racing behind as German rider Busch, Spaniard Ruben Fenoll and New Zealand's Daniel Mettam fought hard to chase him down. South African Themba Khumalo looked like he might join the lead group lying fourth in the early stage of the race before having to retire.

Skirmishes behind the leaders gave them the opportunity to break away from the rest of the pack at the half way point of the race and they gave the crowds a thrilling spectacle as they battled for the lead. Fenoll looked strong but fell challenging Davies for the lead, shortly followed by the leader himself as he fought to break away from the rest. Mettam was held up through this allowing Busch to gain an unassailable lead, with Mettam eventually finishing second followed by young Californian, Brandon Kyee, in third. An excellent result for him as his team had worked tirelessly for two days to provide him with a good race set up.

The next race will be at the World Superbike round of Monza in May.

Results: 1. Tom Busch, Germany; 2. Daniel Mettam, New Zealand; 3. Brandon Kyee, USA; 4. Ross Patterson, Northern Ireland; 5. Jean Francois Demoulin, France; 6. Loris Hunt, GB; 7. Qays Hashmi, Pakistan; 8. Matt Davies, Australia. Not classified: Ruben Fenoll, Spain; Miguel Aranda, Spain; Amelie Demoulin, France; Themba Khumalo, South Africa.

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For Chaz Davies, now something of a seasoned campaigner in WSS terms, his first win in this class was a particularly sweet one at Assen. It came in his 19th race in the category but in only his third Yamaha ride after his previous experiences on Triumph machinery.

Chaz had four podium finishes before the start of this year and after being forced out of the Australian WSS race, a second at Donington and then a win at Assen means he is only five points from the lead. And that is an important thing for any rider when the leader is your own team-mate - in Chaz's case Luca Scassa - who won both the opening races of the year.

At Assen Davies not only gave his team a 100% winning record in the class this year, he did it after a nerve-wracking three race starts, all coming after a complete rebuild of his machine on the eve of the race.

Said Davies of his Assen race win; "Finally! I think that sums up how long I have waited for today to come. It's often a case of luck and I feel it has rarely been on my side in the last few years, and so far this season. The bike is doing really well. I'm looking forward to Monza now that I am officially back in the hunt!"

In what was a very disturbed day, Davies kept his head, "I was leading every time it got red flagged, the bike was good and especially, after totalling the bike when I crashed at 140mph yesterday," said Chaz. "The fastest place on the track and the bike just caught and tumbled and there wasn't a salvageable bit of it again, two times in three races that has happened. This morning I did not push in warm up and tried not lose focus in the restarts all the time."

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Had Team Suzuki Alstare rider Michel Fabrizio not started off the fourth row of the grid after experiencing some issues in Superpole qualifying, the increasingly consistent star felt he could have been in with a chance of even a win at last weekend's Assen race.

As it stands Fabrizio left Assen with a fifth and then a seventh place, losing a couple of places due to his choice of tyres for race two. Marco Melandri (Yamaha) finally passed Fabrizio in race one and a battling seventh in race two means Michel is eighth in the championship.

Said Fabrizio after his latest weekend of racing, "It would've been so much better if I had not have had the problem in Superpole yesterday. I am convinced that if I had been on the first or second row of the grid today, I would've got on the podium for sure - and maybe have even won a race! Generally I am quite pleased with our performance especially considering that I had to start from the fourth row of the grid. I didn't make a good start in the first race, but managed to get into fourth by lap twelve. It had taken some time to get past some of the riders, but I was fairly comfortable in fourth until a few laps from the end. My front tyre was already moving about a lot by the time Melandri came past and although I tried to catch him again, the tyre wasn't up to it, so I had to be satisfied with fifth instead."

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Davide Giugliano began the 2011 Superstock 1000 FIM Cup in fine style at Assen by taking the first win of his career in this category. The man from Rome had a perfect run in the Netherlands, leading from lights to flag to get the better of his fellow Italian and fellow Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci. Giugliano, who finally managed to crown the achievement he had been dreaming about for some years, was quick to give thanks to the Althea Racing team for providing him with the means and the support to take the win.

"I knew we could do very well today," said Giugliano after the win. "I wanted to get away and build a gap but Danilo stuck with me with a very fast pace. My rivals were fast but I took advantage of the fact that in certain sections of the track I was faster still. They tried to attack but fortunately I was able to defend my position. It's a great win, even more than usual because it is my first ever win in the Superstock 1000 category. We gave it our all today. Though at times this might seem to be about one man and a bike, the truth is that a great team is also necessary, a team like Althea Racing. I thank the whole squad that has worked so hard to enable me to take this victory today."

The next round at Monza on May 8th will be another opportunity for Giugliano to do well as it is his home track as well as that of the numerous Italian riders represented in the Superstock 1000 category.

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Jed Metcher (Yamaha MTM-RT Motorsports) might only have stepped onto the bottom rung of the podium in the European Superstock 600 Championship opener at Assen, but the 21-year-old Australian from St. Eltham is already making serious claims on this year's title. In only his second race in the category after a wild-card run at Magny-Cours last October, a race which he sensationally won, Metcher also notched up the pole position and the fastest lap. We spoke to him about his start to the season:

How would you judge your start of the season?

"The start of my season has been great so far, the MTM-RT Motorsports team have put together a fantastic Yamaha R6 that I can make a big effort to win the championship on!"

You came close to a victory on a track you know very well, but for the rest of the season you'll have to face some tracks you don't know. Do you think this will be an important factor?

"For sure it will be a little more difficult at the tracks that I do not know but I feel comfortable on the bike and I was learning tracks all last year in IDM so I know what I need to do. I think local riders will be fast but if I can maintain top 4 results at each round we can come out on top at the end of the year!"

What do you think about the level of Superstock 600 this year?

"The level of stock 600 is pretty fast. In both races I have competed in I have broken the lap record with other riders always within the same tenths of a second. To win this year I will need to be pushing hard at every round. "

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As one of the most experienced riders in the Supersport World Championship Broc Parkes (Kawasaki Motocard.com) has a real insight into how the 2011 season is working out compared to the many others he has competed in. The good news for the fans is that Parkes thinks that "this is one of the hardest years in the Supersport World Championship, if you look at the top ten guys."

The five-time WSS race winner, who now has a whopping total of 26 podium finishes in 73 race starts, continued, "I predicted it to be like this, with the championship a little bit up and down. I knew that these young guys who were coming in were good riders, on good bikes, in good teams, so I knew there would be eight or ten guys that could battle every weekend. There seems to be a bit of a pattern of about five in there right at the moment but I think we are even going to see better stuff towards the middle of the season because there are so many young guys in there who are still learning. They are not consistent yet but they are fast, so once we get both together I think there will be eight or ten of us each weekend. Scassa was fast last year on a Superbike but I don't think he has ever had a top bike before. Now he has one of the top bikes so he can show his true talents."

For Parkes, still only 29 but very much a veteran in terms of experience, the previous round at Assen was not only a great race because he had to fight back from being bumped off circuit to take a podium finish, but also because he had to do it all after three race starts. "I have done a lot of Supersport starts but I have never done more than two starts in the same race," said Parkes. "That was a little bit different and I got run off the track in the eventual race, but there were a few crashes up front do it worked in our favour in the end."

Parkes now looks to Monza for his first win in Kawasaki colours, having already posted two podium finishes in 2011. He is currently second, with the top three of Scassa, Parkes and Davies now separated by only five points.

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Parkalgar Honda rider Sam Lowes has confirmed he will be present in the next World Supersport round at Monza, despite being involved in a crash at Assen. The 20 year-old was the victim of a nasty-looking highside in the race, which brought the red flags out for the first of two times, and ended up with concussion and a broken left collarbone. After making a positive impression at Phillip Island, the talented Lincolnshire lad's progress then took a turn for the worse, with a retirement at Donington due to a clutch problem on his CBR 600RR, followed by the crash in the Dutch Round.

"I have seen a specialist today but my collarbone is broken in many places," said Lowes. "I went to have an operation but wasn't able to as there isn't enough good bone to plate through so I've got to let it heal naturally! It's feeling OK right now and I'm just trying to be as good as can be for Monza. I look forward to the race, I'm sure hard braking will be difficult but it was my mistake in Assen and we will be pushing to come back from this in Monza and the coming races!"

The coming round at Monza will almost certainly be an uphill struggle for the British rider, but there will then be a one month gap before the championship's next appearance at Misano. Currently Lowes is lying eleventh overall, 34 points away from leader Luca Scassa.

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James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike) has had his chances of returning to action at Monza boosted after he underwent a successful operation to remove the surgical pins in the right hand he injured in testing some weeks ago.

Said the double champion just hours after the procedure, "Everything has gone well and it took only just over an hour to get all the pins out. The doctor was really pleasantly surprised how fast the scar tissue on the ligaments has grown, really fast. He said everything is in position with my hand now and he manipulated it quite a lot to check. Now it is a case of getting strength and movement back because obviously it is really stiff. It is a case now of seeing how goes between now and next Thursday. I have physio booked every day with Isla Scott on the Isle of Man, and hyperbaric treatment, so I will do everything I can to try and make it strong enough and have enough movement to race at Monza. But if not Monza, then at Miller I should hopefully be fully fit again. I am going to play it day by day, but everything is in place and ready to rock and roll so I can be back racing when it is up to strength."

Toseland's injury was career threatening at one stage and only the quick intervention of his surgeon ensured that James would be in a position to recover well enough to continue his racing life. "I should get full strength and if not full movement then at least full use out of it to do my job. My surgeon Mike Hayton has definitely saved my career."

The immediate concern of Toseland is that the next circuit is Monza, which places particular stresses on the throttle and braking hand of any rider - first fully extended to pin the throttle wide open for long stretches, then frequently having to pull the brake lever during sustained braking from high speed into the many chicanes. "The right hand movement is so critical in racing as you have to pull the throttle back and also close it back fast enough to engage the brake for Monza at such high speed," explained Toseland. "I know what all the forces entail because I have ridden Monza for a long time now, so I know what strength I need. I am certainly nowhere near that now, but day-by-day it will get better and better and by next Thursday I will see what it feels like."

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The factory Aprilia Alitalia duo of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier undertook two days of testing at the fast and flowing Mugello circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to ensure they will be fully prepared for the next few race meetings, starting with Monza on May 8.

Rain appeared early on day two but did not really limit the plans of the team, with Aprilia staff particularly pleased that Camier - who last rode the Tuscan circuit some years ago on a 125cc machine - setting a best lap of 1'51.2, only a tenth of a second slower than current world champion Max Biaggi, with each rider on race tyres.

Said team manager Francesco Guidotti, "We tested two different engine settings and some chassis settings to help us be ready for the race next week. We did not try out different engines, just settings, no special parts just for Monza. The changes are a step forward and we are working to develop the engine and all of the bike in time for the next race. But not only for Monza, from Monza onwards. We did around 50 laps each day with each rider and the work we do is for the whole of the rest of the season. We are quite happy, looking forward to the next weekend with confidence."

Guidotti accepted that Monza may be a pivotal race in 2011, particularly as championship leader Carlos Checa has such a big lead after the first three rounds. "At Monza we have to make our best and if possible our best is winning. Monza will be a key race for the championship because the gap now is quite big and Monza is our home race, so of course there is big motivation around it. We will try for sure to close the gap as soon as possible. We will test at Misano after the Monza race, because Misano is our designated test track and it was planned for us to be at Misano from the beginning of the year."

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Out of all the top riders in the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship, Marco Melandri is the only one who is not entirely familiar with Monza, the traditional venue for the Italian Round. So the man from Ravenna will more or less be lining up for his debut race at the Autodromo Nazionale next weekend.

"I've actually only raced once at Monza, on a Honda 125 at the start of my career," declared the Yamaha World Superbike man. That was back in 1996 when Marco was just 14 years of age.

"I was without any experience whatsoever and I remember it being a very complicated weekend. I only did five laps in practice in dry conditions. At the start of the race it was raining and I crashed at the first chicane. Just as well that now it's different..."

So we can say that you've never really raced at Monza. How are you going to learn the track?

"I know that in these cases some riders go on the Playstation, but I'm not convinced it's much use. In my opinion it's not really worth watching the previous years' races either because you can't get much of an idea of the lines from the TV."

So what are you going to do?

"I'll wait for Thursday and then do a few laps on a scooter."

This will be the first time you'll be racing in Italy in World Superbike. What sort of emotions will you be feeling?

"For sure it'll be a very special Sunday for a lot of reasons. And Yamaha also has its base not far from Monza, so there'll be a dedicated grandstand. I'm counting on sending them all home satisfied..."

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Entries are now open for the first-ever ‘Two Countries Cup' International trophy, reserved for Italian and Russian riders in the 600 Superstock Open class, with a prize-money fund of Euro 35,000 (Euro 10,000 per race for the first 5 in each race plus Euro 15,000 for the final standings), as well as a silver cup for the winner.

Two races are scheduled on the calendar; the first takes place at Misano World Circuit on June 12, as part of the World Superbike weekend programme. The race itself will be on Sunday between SBK race 1 and 2.

The second appointment is on August 21, at the Canyon Racing circuit in Kazan (Russia). The circuit, which has recently been completed, has been built to European standards. It measures 3.5 km and is located in Kazan, on the River Volga, East of Moscow in the Tatarsan region, one of the most highly developed economic and industrial areas of the Russian Republic, and which is also famous for its incredible natural scenery.

The Trophy is open to riders over 18 years of age from Italy and Russia, who in the last three years have not finished in the top 3 of any CIV Italian Championship category or who have not won any domestic Trophy in the last two years.

Registration fee for the Trophy is Euro 1500, and this includes entry fee for the two races, bike transport plus spare parts in Russia, air ticket and hotel accommodation for two people during the stay in Russia.

For further information, click on the www.motocoppa.com website.

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Despite a technical problem in Q2 on his S 1000 RR, Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) stayed at the top of the timesheets to head the field in the final pre-Superpole qualifying session. Second-placed Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) also failed to improve on his yesterday's time and remained a fraction behind. A major leap forward into third was made by Troy Corser on the second BMW Motorrad Motorsport machine, the Australian finishing ahead of an increasingly competitive Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) and another weekend surprise, Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team).

Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) was seventh, a whisker behind his team-mate Eugene Laverty, while Carlos Checa (Althea Racing Ducati) moved up four places in to finish in tenth.

The second session was characterized by numerous surprises, including a crash for Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) and a blown engine for wild-card Fabrizio Lai (Echo Sport Racing Company Honda), an incident that caused the red flags to come out and the session to be stopped for track cleaning.

Eliminated from Superpole were Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda), Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison (Pedercini Kawasaki), James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team) and Lai.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Young Frenchman Romain Lanusse (MRS Yamaha Racing France) will start from pole position in the second round of the European Superstock 600 Championship which gets under way this afternoon at 6pm.

Completing the front row of the grid will be Riccardo Russo (Trasimeno Yamaha), Giuliano Gregorini (RCGM Team Yamaha) and Dino Lombardi (Martini Corse Yamaha), while in a class dominated by Italian riders Francesco Cocco (Martini Corse Yamaha) will line up on row 2.

 

 

 

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Reigning champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) reasserted himself at his home circuit of Monza with a spectacular display in Superpole qualifying, setting a lap of 1 minute 41.745 seconds to take his first pole position of the 2011 season.

Biaggi used a qualifying tyre to set his new best lap of the 5.777km circuit and an all time fastest lap average in WSBK history of 204.405kmph.

Second in Superpole was Eugene Laverty (Yamaha Superbike Racing Team) then Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) and Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) completed the front row, with four different bikes in the top four places.

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

The ParkinGO Yamahas continue to dominate the Supersport World Championship, but this time pole position at Monza is in the hands Chaz Davies. The British rider set a quickest time of 1 minute 47.809 seconds around the high-speed track, a couple of tenths quicker than Sam Lowes on the Parkalgar Honda. Broc Parkes took his Kawasaki Motocard.com ZX-6R machine to third place, with the front row completed by Fabien Foret (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda).

Fifth and sixth place went to two Italians, Roberto Tamburini on the Bike Service Racing Team Yamaha and Luca Scassa with the second ParkinGO Yamaha. Florian Marino (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) continued his Supersport learning curve with the next slot on the grid, and James Ellison took his Bogdanka PTR Honda to the outside row 2 position, one place ahead of Gino Rea (Step Racing Honda).

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[WORLDSBK.COM]

Opening round winner Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Ducati) powered to pole position for tomorrow's Superstock 1000 round at Monza with a time of 1 minute 46.044 seconds.

The Italian was ahead of the three BMW S 1000 RR machines that have been setting the pace so far, the BMW Motorrad Italia STK version of Sylvain Barrier, Michele Magnoni in (Baru Racing Team) and the other BMW Italia bike of Lorenzo Zanetti.

Australian champion Bryan Staring put in an excellent run to take his Kawasaki Pedercini bike to fifth overall ahead of the second Althea Racing Ducati of Lorenzo Baroni.

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