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

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Imola Superbike Statements and Analysis

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

The seventh round of the World SBK 2013 took place yesterday in Imola, 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 Imola

Yesterday evening at Imola, the only driver to be fully satisfied with this seventh round of the 2013 WSBK championship was Tom Sykes. Indeed, the four pilots who accompanied him on the podium all had a hard time in the race on Sunday: technical glitch for Guintoli, crashes for Giugliano, Rea and Laverty…

Likewise, Melandri and his compatriots Fabrizio and Badovini intended to do better than mere figuration, just like the outsiders Davies and Camier, or our little French guys Baz and Cluzel! No need to count: "unfortunately" is probably the term most used in their statements by opponents of Sykes (read the first page of this article).

After that of Donington Park a month ago, the Ninja n ° 66 thus had another perfect weekend: Superpole on Saturday – his sixth in a row! – transformed the next day into two relentless victories, with a race lap record. Everything is rolling for "Major Tom", Thank you very much !

Sykes the blessed

"Icing on the pudding", Super Sykes took advantage of Guintoli’s abandonment in the first round to take control of the Superbike championship, a great first in the career of the English rider. The Greens are in heaven: the last Kawa ‘driver to lead the standings was Scott Russel. It was in 1994 !

Haga or the losing return

Two small points and then go: this is the sad summary of Noriyuki Haga’s weekend at Imola! The three-time vice-world champion was not convincing: Canepa, Lai, Allerton and Stauffer scored more points than the Japanese star in their own WSBK freelance this year. Nitro Nori on the BMW bomb: the poster was beautiful … Not sure that the Grillini team will try the experience again later.

In 2013 it is indisputable, Tom Sykes is the best driver of the field. His serenity, as Giugliano tried to pack himself in the first five laps of the first round, and his absolute control during the next 15 laps passed in the lead, then during the 21 of the second round were impressive..

Without his careless fault during the formation round of the second Portuguese round (read our), the demonstration of Super Sykes would have airs of humiliation for his rivals: Super Sykes could have extended his podium streak to eleven units…

Regardless, it has been almost a year since Sykes dominated the World Superbike. By collecting 50 points this Sunday, Tom reaches a first place in the well-deserved provisional … and we wish good luck to his rivals to dislodge him. !

In the constructor championship, however, Aprilia still dominates and if the Akashi firm goes back, it is still 30 lengths behind that of Noale (289 points against) … BMW gave up its second place to Kawasaki this weekend and has 52 points behind the Italian leader. Honda has 138 points, Suzuki 122 and Ducati only 96 !

Defenders of the Bologna manufacturer will point out that he is the only one of the six World Superbike companions to enter a new bike this year. The lack of driving this winter – partly due to the bad weather – is all the more sorely felt.

Ducati down the hole

For their part, their detractors will retort that the engineers of Borgo Panigale have only what they deserve! Ducati takes the bet to differentiate itself clearly from its competitors and must fully assume the consequences of such a strategy with which "it goes or gets stuck"…

Exactly, if the 1198 and its "old" twin-cylinder mounted in a tubular steel trellis worked wonderfully, the Panigale and its ultrashort-stroke twin-cylinder housed under a monocoque frame is not achieving anything, for the moment (read MNC of).

Offending for some WSBK observers, cheering for others, the "unbridling" of 1199 did not ultimately change much to the case. On the other hand, let us note that the weight of six kilograms present on the Ducati last year had in no way prevented: like what, "when we are good, we are good"! And when we are not? We work.

"We really have a lot of work to do during the next tests in order to know how to improve the situation", approves a Carlos visibly confused in his settings in practice, and removed from the Top 10 in the race (11th then 12th).

Heavily disappointed by this weekend on his land – the "Toro" n ° 7 had won five of the last eight races at Imola – Carlos Checa criticized his horse for a lack of traction and agility … Two points that made precisely all the strength of the 1198 !

Giugliano: the one, the only !

Titled in the Superbike and Superstock categories in 2011 with this 1198, the Althea team certainly does not regret having gone to Ducati’s sworn enemy: Aprilia! Their foal, Davide Giugliano, also signed a better result than the two official RSV4s on his private machine. !

"We have proven that we have excellent setups and Davide has been able to exploit them in the best possible way.", underlines the Big Boss Genesio Bevilacqua. Like the experienced Alstare team with the Ducati, the Althea team is discovering a new bike this year … but what a bike !

At the controls of his RSV4 n ° 34, Giugliano was the only one to follow the pace imposed by Tom Sykes. The former Superstock champion even allowed himself to beat the unbeatable Ninja at the start of the first round, which he finished in an excellent second place, ahead of Laverty Himself.

During the rematch, Davide lost the front as he still followed Sykes like his shadow. Roman fans therefore regretted that the World Superbike – which already includes two races per Sunday – did not include a "beautiful", which would have allowed everyone to appreciate the aggressive style, not to say nag, of their idol !

Finally, it should be noted that Davide Giugliano was the only Italian driver to have been able to greet his audience from above – or almost! – from the podium. Fabrizio was hoping to do the same but a breakdown in his Aprilia during the Superpole prevented him from turning promising practice and fighting for the podium…

The RSV4 n ° 50 also suffered the breakdown, but in full swing! Betrayed by his engine, Sylvain Guintoli was unable to complete the first round. His three colleagues on Aprilia were all entitled to the Top 5 and the corresponding big points. You said infuriating ?

Sylvain Guintoli has therefore registered his first bubble of the season … Is it a drama? Not really. By observing the tables of results for previous years, we even see that it is more of a necessary step. His great rivals in the championship, Sykes and Laverty, themselves endured one or two technical problems at the start of the season..

Our Guinters caught up well in the second round, taking third place, behind the unattainable Sykes and the unpayable Rea! Be careful, however, not to let the points and the sleeves slip too far: Sylvain can say that the fight remains long, we will cross the mid-season milestone in Moscow. !

Laverty for his part crashed all alone in the first round. This error means he is relegated to 45 points behind the new leader, while his French teammate is only six units behind..

More talkative on Twitter than at the microphone of the Aprilia press officer, "Youdjine" explains that he sometimes had the impression of being stuck at the exit of a bend "as if the speed limiter in the pit lane was engaged". Forced to force to recover under braking, he would have crossed the limit of his Pirelli …" Unfortunately ".

Fourth in the provisional drivers’ classification with a deficit of 53 points – more than a double! – Marco Melandri is not strictly speaking "passed unnoticed" this Sunday. We owe him two of the most beautiful battles: one in the first round against Laverty, the other in the second against his fierce teammate..

Nevertheless, the absence of Marco on the two podiums undoubtedly disappointed many of his admirers who expected to see him shine as strongly as at Monza (1st and 2nd)! With the San Marino event no longer on the program in 2013, the n ° 33 lost the last opportunity to be acclaimed by his compatriots this season. Pity.

BMW remains at the foot of the podium

However, Melandri is not devastated. He calculates that with his two fourth places (26 points), he climbed 10 lengths over the two official Aprilia riders. The Transalpine Hedgehog does not insist on the 14 points that Sykes put in his sight. All in good time: after all, even Ravenna was not done in a day! First the Aprilia Boys, then the Ninja…

Andrea Dosoli, technical director of the semi-official BMW Italia team, is satisfied with the fact that his two drivers (Melandri and Davies), have been constantly improving, session after session. He admits, however, that he has some Ciabatta left on the board: Marco doesn’t have enough confidence in his front end and Chaz lacks rear traction. Where to start ?

The Honda Pata team must also continue its efforts, because it is following the right direction: that of the podium! If Rea has only collected three since the start of the season, the one climbed in the second round at Imola was his second in just three races..

The CBR1000RR have made significant progress over the past month since they now manage to hold the top of the RSV4, ZX-10R and S1000RR in relaunch and acceleration. Already very stable in the braking phases and in the middle of a curve, the Fireblade is capable of driving at the forefront, and of staying there despite the wear of its tires..

Not even hurt

Let us congratulate in passing the courage of Leon Haslam who finished his two rounds yesterday – in the Top 10, please – when he had not reached the finish since the second round of the championship in Aragon, following a nasty injury. below the knee.

While his teammate Johnny amused the gallery – especially in the first round! -, Leon applied as best he could … That is to say not much, since Baz in the first round, then Cluzel and Badovini in the second did not stop looking for sticks !

"I feel like I did a 24 hour race solo", twittered n ° 91 while going to bed last night … This morning when waking up, the finding was not more convincing:"I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. Send full day trial" !

Impressed with Leon’s attitude in recent weeks, his team paid tribute to him on their own Twitter account: "April 26: left leg shattered into pieces, June 30: end of the second race in Imola. Respect".

Loris Baz should also be warmly congratulated. First of all for his formidable figure – or that of his Ninja rather – accomplished during the final phase of Superpole. Particularly proud of his "shoot", Bazooka also relays on his facebook a link to the stunning video sequence (see the video below).

All kidding aside, our "Green Giant" showed remarkable determination to clinch ninth and sixth places in the Italian heats. Jules Cluzel would have liked to do the same, but Imola was probably not to his liking…

The Silverstone circuit, the next World Superbike stop, will undoubtedly be better for our "Coq Supersportif"! Indeed, our dear n ° 16 has already won two races there: three years ago in Moto2 – his only victory in the category – and last year in World Supersport..

We can bet that at the controls of his increasingly sharp GXSX-R1000, Jules will reach the Top10. See you on July 21, therefore, to follow the English round of the WSBK almost live. Stay connected !

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