WSBK – Videos, statements and analysis of the SBK at Silverstone – Analysis of the World Superbike at Silverstone

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SBK Videos, Statements and Analysis at Silverstone

WSBK - Videos, statements and analysis of the SBK at Silverstone - Analysis of the World Superbike at Silverstone

The ninth round of the World SBK 2011 took place yesterday at Silverstone. To complete our live reports, here are the statements of the SBK riders, our analyzes and the video summaries of the Superbike and Supersport races..

Analysis of the World Superbike at Silverstone

Since his double at Misano on June 12, Carlos Checa had not climbed the highest market of the podium: left at fault the following week at his home in Aragon, the Spaniard had then chained three wise third places behind his two rivals in the championship, namely Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri (read our).

But the Spaniard readily admitted it after the last two races in Brno: he expected to compete in a 99th and then a 100th race – for him in WSBK – difficult at Silverstone … He was wrong! Leading after the first day of testing and fourth on the starting grid, El Torro brilliantly flew over the two races of Great Britain and managed to get back to sea in the championship.

If he has not yet won the war against Biaggi and Melandri for the 2011 world title, he certainly won a decisive battle in England this Sunday. The famous n ° 7 has, with four rounds to go – so eight races -, a lead of 62 points on the n ° 1 in the category and 71 on the no less dangerous n ° 33…

A suspicion too rushed at the very start of the first race, Carlos managed the rest of the race perfectly and was just as calm during the second. In addition to his strengthened lead in the provisional, this fourth double of the season is symbolically very strong for the leader of the championship since he offers Ducati his 300 and 301st victories in world superbikes. !

The statisticians behind their computers will also have noted that these two new successes brought to 15 the number of victories of Checa in the discipline, that is to say one less than Biaggi, Toseland and Hodgson and Falappa! The opponents of the Ducati Althea team meanwhile, from the bottom of their boxes, are beginning to doubt the twin-cylinder and 4-cylinder equivalence….

"I would like to point out that this weekend was difficult from a media point of view", insists therefore the manager of the Italian team, Genesio Bevilacqua, quite annoyed by the indirect attacks of which his team and his driver were the target…

"They think we have an advantage when it is the opposite", even the big Italian boss protests,"what we have is our strength as a team, a great rider and a bike that accelerates less. We also deliver at least 12 km / h in top speed on all circuits". The press releases of the opposing teams remain for the moment virgin of any complaint … !

Clearly, the English campaign did not succeed for Max Biaggi: during the "European" test at Donington Park, the Aprilia rider had already recorded his worst combined result of the season (7th then disqualified!). On the occasion of the "British" test at Silverstone, the Roman Emperor stumbled again…

By finishing the first round in 11th place, the 2010 world champion recorded his worst result of the year, even though Leon Camier could claim 2nd place without the mysterious breakdown of his Aprilia n ° 2 !

Max partially recovered in the second set, as he was ahead of his teammate, but at the same time gave up valuable points to Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri. The Pirate and his RSV4 Factory have certainly not said their last word…

Marco Melandri and his R1 are also hoping to compete for the world title with Carlos and his 1098R – or his "1198" as we can read on the fairing ?! – the longest time possible ! On the podium for the 5th and 6th consecutive time, the Ravenna Hedgehog is only nine points behind Biaggi…

The gap could even have been reduced to a single point if Eugene Laverty Himself had not lodged his Yamaha n ° 58 in front of n ° 33 at the end of the two races! Unthinkable, however, to ask the Irishman to give way to the Italian: already on Saturday, the wild-card John Hopkins had blown him for 27 thousandths of a second his first pole…

Unlike last year, the British did not trust the outposts. Leon Camier, as we have seen, was unlucky, while Tom Sykes could not even take part in the Superpole and then in the races after his cabriole in qualifying…

"I woke up feeling like I got run over by a bus", declared the English Ninja yesterday! Chris Vermeulen forfeited again, the hopes of the official Kawasaki team therefore rested on the only Joan Lascorz, qualified in 19th place…

Under these conditions, the Spaniard’s 7th place in the first round seems incredible. No miracle, however, in the second round: the coolant leak, following its collision with Toseland’s BMW, forced the n ° 17 ZX-10R to retire in the 7th lap. She then rode at the head of a group fighting without restraint for 10th position….

At Honda, Jonathan Rea’s young replacement, Alex Lowes, also a British subject, did not shine in front of his home crowd … Despite the presence of Johnny at his side, the n ° 22 did not find the right settings. allowing you to rush the front of your Fireblade and achieve good lap times…

Wanting to do too much – we apologize, he is only 20 years old! -, Alex exploded his CBR in the first round and had to start in the second round on the handlebars of a visibly badly adjusted mule, to the point that the Honda rider preferred to return to the pits after seven laps…

Fabrizio Lai, substitute for Xaus – substitute for substitute Karl Muggeridge to be exact! – was satisfied to make the figuration at the controls of a motorcycle which he discovered, like the track besides. The return of Jonathan Rea, winner of a round at Assen this year, is planned for the Nurburgring: the Ten Kate team and Honda cross their fingers so that the black series ends !

At Alstare, the fingers are even more tense while waiting for news from Japan: "Francis (Francis Batta, the team manager, NDLR) has been a staunch Suzuki supporter and that is why he would like to continue with them alone in the future. If Suzuki decides not to take part in the World Superbike Championship next year, Francis will also stop rather than continue with another manufacturer.".

Stung to life by Hopkins and his Gex from the British Superbike team, authors of the Superpole, the only rider of the Alstare team quickly left to make mistakes during the first race, leaving "Hopper" the honor of finishing first Suzuki rider !

Badly so very calm in the second race, Hurricane Mich ‘was content with a 9th place at the helm of its good old Gex. Unfortunately, it is not this type of result that will encourage top Hamamatsu officials to persevere in the World Superbike….

And the same goes for the decision taken by Yamaha Motor Europe to no longer officially participate in the World Superbike from next year! A choice to say the least unexpected (until within Yamaha Motor France contacted by Site!) Since Melandri and Laverty had just been extended for the 2012 season..

"This announcement follows a comprehensive strategic review of the marketing operations carried out within Europe, including all sporting activities, and takes into account the continuing, rapid and significant evolution of the two-wheeler market conditions in this zoned", slice the press release.

What about the two riders, the team and the bikes? We remember that the R6 world champions in 2009 slept under tarpaulins for a whole year before returning to service at the last minute and again dominating the Honda – thanks to Scassa then Davies – this season … MNC remains on the qui- lively !

Our little Frenchies finally were in the game, or almost, this weekend! Guintoli thus finished 6th twice and climbed from 11th to 9th place in the provisional classification. He totals 109 points, against 99 for the awkward Haga and 118 for the "false rookie" Ayrton Badovini – the Italian rode in 2008 on a private Kawa ‘, we tend to forget him !

Maxime Berger for his part made a lot of talk by posting the second fastest time of the first day. In the race, our favorite n ° 121 was able to count this time on his Ducati to get his best result of the season: an 8th place in the first round ahead of the champions Corser, Biaggi and Toseland !

As long as it lasts for our national "Mad Max": next meeting in Germany on the Nurburgring track – the little one of course -, from September 2 to 4 … stay tuned !

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