WSBK – Statements and analysis of the Superbike in Misano – Analysis of the World Superbike in Misano

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Misano Superbike Statements and Analysis

WSBK - Statements and analysis of the Superbike in Misano - Analysis of the World Superbike in Misano

The seventh round of the World SBK 2014 took place yesterday in Misano, Italy. To complete our live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders as well as the Site analysis of the two Italian races.

Analysis of the World Superbike in Misano

The in Misano plunged the World Superbike into the second half of the 2014 season. Author of an unstoppable double, Tom Sykes took the opportunity to increase his lead in the provisional classification and confirm his status as favorite to his own succession…

The "Number One" seems to be heading straight for a second consecutive coronation: a feat that no WSBK driver has achieved since Carl "King" Fogarty in 1999. Not even Troy Bayliss, nor Max Biaggi! Fans of the English Ninja will not fail to recall that in 2012, their beloved No.66 (No.1 this year) had already passed. .

It has been three years since Tom Sykes has been one of the best Superbike riders in the world, not to say the best! What a road traveled by the former teammate of the phenomenal Ben Spies at Yamaha in 2009, left to ride an unruly Ninja the following year….

In 2011, it wasn’t much easier. Sykes, who took an active part in its development, took a year to tame the green beast which angrily shot its Pirelli in half a race and only shone when the weather conditions were delicate, even insane..

Through hard work, Tom, his chief mechanic Marcel Duinkers and the entire official Kawasaki team based in Spain (Team Provec) ended up transforming the intimidating Kawa ‘into a formidable winning machine, which is now enjoying also our national Bazooka !

Sykes and the double … 2013-2014 ?!

In the wake of "Major Tom" – in the alien lap times – for most of, Loris Baz was unable to join him and preferred to carefully return the throttle at the very end of the race. In the opinion of our favorite No. 76 – an opinion shared by all of his little comrades -, Sykes was simply unbeatable yesterday.

Physically diminished by his – crumpled hand, open and bruised leg – Tom Sykes did much better than withstand the shock. He surprised himself, beating the lap record set by Carlos Checa in 2013, during the WSBK’s last visit to Misano.

The day before, Tom had taken pole position by setting a new record on the track "Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli", this time erasing the mark of Troy Corser Himself from the shelves. The new "King" of Superbike thus equals the number of poles delighted by Fogarty (21), but Corser will be harder to find (43) !

Like Sykes who scored his third double of the season, Baz signed his third pair of second places after that of Aragon in mid-April and that of Donington Park at the end of May. An impressive collection for the 21-year-old who really doesn’t have much to envy his elders.

The end of the second round also proved that the "Green Giant" was not a colossus with feet of clay! Facing the most tenacious of pilots – Marco Melandri, of course! -, Bazooka returned blow for blow and dominated of the head and shoulders their superb final fight !

Young Baz redoubles, with congratulations

Whether criticized – wrongly – for his irrepressible urge to put gas on, or threatened on the track by significantly more experienced opponents, Loris always remains upright in his boots, remarkably unperturbed..

This aplomb has earned him seven second places this season, completed by five other Top 5. Like Cluzel in Supersport – winner of the Italian race this weekend on his MV Agusta! -, Baz knows that his excellent results will sooner or later lead to a victory…

In the meantime, the Ninja n ° 76 begins the second part of the season with two small points of the dolphin of Sykes, Sylvain Guintoli … and the joy of the official Kawasaki team by placing his ZX-10R in front of the RSV4 of factory, allowing the Greens to take off again in the ranking of manufacturers !

The standoff continues between Kawasaki and Aprilia: at the end of this seventh event, Akashi’s firm totaled 266 points, against 244 for Noale’s, who had achieved his first double – even quadrupled! – when it was last released in Malaysia.

Finally in phase with his new mount, Marco Melandri did not reproduce his perfect Sepang score (50 points), but he once again ranks best Aprilia rider with two third places (32 points) which fall into the purse of the italian brand.

The public naturally expected a little more from the local child on Sunday, but in view of the health of the two Kawasaki on the one hand, and the results of his teammate Sylvain Guintoli on the other, the famous n ° 33 does not have to blush – or green? – its home services…

Kawasaki Vs Aprilia: the duel continues

Certainly our Frenchie "Guinters" qualified better than Marco. In the "Tissot Superpole" classification, moreover, established by distributing the same number of points as in the race but depending on the place of the drivers on each starting grid, n ° 50 appears in the lead.

For our compatriot however, this first place is not worth more than that occupied by Tom Sykes in the "Pirelli Best Lap" classification. It would be different if the 133 points collected by Sylvain during the Superpole were taken into account in the "real" championship: he would thus be 19 points behind !

Unfortunately for Sylvain, this is not the case and it is indeed 39 points that separate him from the leader, while his lead over his two main opponents continues to reduce: 2 lengths over Loris Baz and 33 over his teammate….

Interlaced between Baz and Melandri, Rea had another particularly frustrating weekend. At the origin of the ills of the fourth in the championship (199 points on the clock): the electronic management of the engine brake which is far too sharp and requires his team to start from zero each time it arrives on a new circuit.

Performing at home – Rea finished, Haslam 8th and 5th – the Honda Pata team would therefore have had the chance to come across a good set-up two weeks later at Imola – doubled from Rea -, before starting to mess around in England again, in Malaysia and Italy ?!

"We wanted to fight for the podium again but Jonathan had too many worries and it took us too long to adjust his machine", apologizes the technical coordinator Pieter Breddels. Guintoli would have liked to compete in a third race … We imagine that" JR "would have wanted two or three more !

"We have a lot of work to do and we have to aim for the podium with him in Portimao because it is one of his favorite circuits and we know what he and the bike can achieve there.", concludes the head of the Tokyo Reds.

Tokyo and Bologna reds

For the record, Johnny climbed seven Portuguese podiums in 12 participations, without ever climbing the highest step. We note in passing that Portimao has not known a double winner in the last three years (the last one was one), quite the opposite of Misano !

The Bologna Reds did not deliver the expected results on Sunday but that should not overshadow the remarkable progress made by the 1199 Panigale. Davide Giugliano’s lack of success in particular is only due to his departures.

Too slow to take off from his superb second place on the grid in the first round, the Romain stole the start of the second and was forced to return to the pits … not without having set the best time of the race, less good than the new Sykes record, of course, but better than the former champion Checa riding his 1198 !

Able to load the front axle of their motorbike much more heavily without – almost! – never fall, Giugliano and Davies now turn as fast as their competitors, one in qualifying above all and the other in the race.

To do well in Portimao, Davide and Chaz should combine their efforts: the Italian, hyper swift on one lap, could place the Panigale for the fourth time in a row on the front row and give up his handlebars to the Welshman, more seasoned in terms of racing….

Although, "Chazie" still bit the dust Sunday afternoon, entering like a madman in the curves. The views taken from Aprilia n ° 33 in the first round were absolutely astounding! "I asked a little too much of my front tire", admitted the n ° 7. To meditate for the next meetings !

Fifth in the constructors’ standings, 21 points behind Ducati, Suzuki did not have a podium to deceive this Sunday. Neither Lowes (3rd at Donington Park), nor Laverty (3rd at Sepang) have managed to make even the Top 5 at Misano.

Laverty grits his teeth

Congratulating in turn for their courage and their determination his "Yudjine" (re) injured in the foot and his young foal Alex, the leader of the Yellow Hamamatsu Paul Denning recalls that "the level of this championship is so high: you reduce your maximum performance by a few percent and you cannot obtain a good result".

Still according to him, it is on new tires at the start of the race that his drivers are the most disadvantaged compared to the others. "This is our main goal in terms of improvement", calculates the English Big Boss, for whom must seem very distant.

The next stage scheduled in Portugal could nevertheless smile more for the Suz ‘team: last January, the two Gexes had dominated the winter tests. Admittedly the Kawasaki were not out, Guintoli neither and Melandri lacked driving on the RSV4, but Eugene and Alex were in the tempo of the two races 2013. So who knows ?!

We will closely monitor the performance of Sylvain Barrier who, back "without pressure" this weekend, has already almost won his first race "Evo"! The only BMW (Italia) rider on the field scored his first points at Misano. He should score more in Portimao !

Last in the constructor championship, MV Agusta scored three small points in the first SBK round thanks to his official driver Claudio Corti. Separated from the Russian team Yakhnich – Vladimir Leonov jumped at the same time in the World Supersport – the Varese factory ensures that its sports program will continue.

MV Agusta victorious and ambitious

"We have achieved very significant results with the F3 in World Supersport", said Friday evening the CEO of MV Agusta, Giovanni Castiglioni,"and we continue to invest in the development of the F4 Superbike in view of the new 2015 regulations".

Two days later, the young – handsome and tall – Italian CEO joined our Jules Cluzel at the top of the WSSP podium: This naturally confirmed him in his strategic choices. And also gave him some chills !

"This moment reminded me of the time my father first stepped on the podium", reveals the late Claudio‘s son,"it was in 1992 with the victory of Eddie Lawson on the Cagiva 500. We are improving considerably and I am convinced that we can continue to do better and better.". .. in the company of" Julo "Cluzel of course !

Also passionate and resolute, but less efficient for the moment, the American manufacturer EBR (Erik Buell Racing,) is slow to register his first point in the Superbike world championship. Its top driver, Geoff May, does not despair !

Asserting to our colleagues at CycleWorld that they run with an almost "Stock" engine, the n ° 99 quickly understood that competing with the best machines was impossible: "I have heard of 220 horsepower, and from what I see on the track I can believe it", explains the American pilot.

EBR and Bimota, not the same fight

"Depending on the circuit, the guys on the "real" Superbikes are between 15 and 25 km / h faster than us", observes Mister May accurately. Also under braking, the Buell" perimeter "system is less efficient than the systems – mostly Brembo – used by the competition…

"To harness the full potential of what Erik designed, someone would have to work directly with us to test new components and fittings.", believes Geoff, before ensuring that"if we had the right to carbon, like in MotoGP, it could be the best system in the world".

Finally, Bimota still does not appear in the standings,. Equipped with a BMW S1000RR engine and a "house" part-cycle as beautiful as it is efficient, this machine nevertheless regularly competes with the official Kawasaki of Salom, the Ducati of Canepa and the BMW of Camier / Barrier the first place in the "Evo" category.

This Sunday, Ayrton Badovini should have collected nine points thanks to his 12th and 11th places. "I am happy with my two second places in the Evo class", said the Italian last night."Temperatures were very high which could have caused some issues but my bike worked fine". Very well even !

Also in the "jump" category, the Bimota stands out as the benchmark: the cliche posted on Twitter by Chris Iddon Himself gives shivers down your spine and proves that despite increasingly sophisticated on-board electronics, it is still possible to orbit on the handlebars of a racing motorcycle…

Next meeting in two weeks: the World Superbike will travel to the southern tip of Portugal, on the tortuous and hilly route of Portimao. Until then, of course, stay connected !

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