WSBK – Videos, statements and analysis of the SBK in Monza – Analysis of the World Superbike in Monza

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Videos, statements and analysis of the SBK in Monza

WSBK - Videos, statements and analysis of the SBK in Monza - Analysis of the World Superbike in Monza

The fourth round of the World SBK 2012 took place yesterday in Monza. 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 in Monza

We thought we had reached peaks in terms of tension during the last World Superbike event held two weeks ago in the Netherlands, but yesterday’s round in Italy proved us the opposite….

Although it did not rain more in Monza than in Assen – it is difficult if not impossible to do more! -, the configuration of the Milanese circuit made matters considerably worse: "this track is known to be very demanding on the tires", recalled Pirelli the day before the first tests.

"The extreme length of the straights, high sustained speeds and severe braking zones constrain the center section of the tire like no other track in the Superbike World Championship does.", certified the Italian engineers.

"Clearly, the thermal energy generated at a zero tilt angle (yes, all right, Editor’s note) under acceleration and braking is about 5 times greater than that developed at Assen", they quantified in order to make us understand the extent of the task to be accomplished by their erasers…

Supposed to be ready for their home event, however, the Diablo had major problems on the "drying" track at Monza on Saturday afternoon. Thus, Melandri and Sykes at the controls of their respective S1000RR and ZX-10R have literally cut up their rear "rain" tire….

"I would like to highlight an important point about the Superpole", spoke last night the director of the racing department of the transalpine manufacturer Giorgio Barbier,"Pirelli has consistently recommended teams and drivers to use the intermediate tires made available".

Obviously not very persuasive, the sole supplier of the WSBK championship has agreed to put rain tires on the animals capable of handling 350 km / h at the end of the straight line. In the shade of trees elsewhere, on still soggy areas, this choice was judicious and more prudent..

But "on the two consecutive straights, which were completely dry, the tires obviously reached temperatures blithely exceeding 200 degrees", says Pirelli! The melting of the tire in its center was, according to the Italian boss, inevitable.

According to Giorgio Barbier, the safety of the pilots was not at stake: "Pirelli tires have a specific structure incorporating a steel belt, so it is absolutely impossible to blow them up", reassures the big boss of the Pirelli competition.

However, we can understand the skepticism of most pilots when returning to the track in order to start – from the beginning – the first round interrupted by a downpour shortly after the first start..

The Superpole scenario reoccurred: as the straights quickly dried, baffles and other shady passages remained inundated. Not sure on the one hand that the intermediaries would have made it possible to pass on the water in addition safety, or on the other hand that the rain tires withstood the peaks of speed on dry tarmac…

By the time the pilots agreed with the authorities and decided to make a reconnaissance lap in the race director’s cars, a powerful storm hit the circuit, cutting off any debate. Well almost !

While Suzuki Crescent manager Jack Valentine fully supports the decision, believing that the wet tires, even on a wet track, "wouldn’t have lasted long enough, maybe five or six laps", this is not the case with the Ducati Liberty Effenbert team…

Bitterly regretting that they were not consulted when deciding whether or not to cancel the first round or restart the second, the private team of Guintoli, Berger and Smrz – not to mention the seriously injured McCormick – did not hesitate to qualify the methods of the WSBK "even unworthy of a single-brand scooter championship" !

First victory of the Panigale
Site related it yesterday in its report: Jules Cluzel made resound the Marseillaise by leading magnificently his Honda CBR600RR to victory in the Supersport category, the first of "this" n ° 16 (it was also the race number double world champion Sebastien Charpentier!).

On the other hand, it is indirectly and quite involuntarily that Sylvain Barrier "offered" his first victory to the Ducati 1199 Panigale … Installed at the head of the race at the controls of his BMW S1000RR, the Frenchman then leader of the Superstock 1000 championship unfortunately Chu at the end of the course, yielding the first step of the podium to Lorenzo Savadori and his "Panigale" !

Jostled in their schedule – the Superstock 600 race had already been postponed from Saturday to Sunday afternoon – the organizers preferred to simply cancel a first round in the rain which could have smiled on the Ducati riders, Sylvain Guintoli in the lead.

"I think everyone involved was slow to make a decision", considers for his part the manager of the Ducati Althea team."Recent accidents (Lascorz in Imola then McCormick in Assen, editor’s note) perhaps made the pilots more careful in these kinds of conditions and I agree with them, even if that deprives the spectators of the show ".

"Sorry for the fans who came to see us today"Eugene Laverty tweeted last night on his Twitter account,"but the safety of the pilot is paramount. We don’t play tennis! Besides, even they don’t play in the rain".

"Congratulations to the organization which made, in my opinion, the right choices", outbid her Welsh pal Chaz Davies,"Monza + rain = too sketchy(Sketchy in English, Editor’s note) "Unfortunately, the precaution – extreme or justified, it’s up to you to judge – of the organizers did not prevent falls…

In particular, there is a broken foot in the less fortunate of the WSBK pilots: John Hopkins. "It was not a good weekend", established the Suzuki pilot no.21 yesterday."I got quite banged up in the accident in the first race, I damaged my left hip and a bone in my right foot broke".

Also the 2011 British Superbike runner-up should probably not participate in the English event next weekend! His team, with whom he rode in the British Superbike just last year, still reserves a few hours before deciding: to run a diminished Hopper or replace it….

Max Biaggi can reasonably consider himself happy. Of course he and his RS4 should have atomized Carlos Checa and his 1198 on the super-fast track at Monza. But as in Assen, the water came to save the Pirate who was unable to take the second start of the first round. !

The spectators – and the big names of the Piaggio group to which Aprilia belongs … – will long remember the humiliation suffered by the Aprilia n ° 3, forced to be pushed by the Ducati n ° 7 in the straight line to join the stands! The image of their pilots comes out, she, grown.

Regarding the fight in the provisional classification this time, it is Carlos Checa who performs the best operation since the gap separating him from the leader Biaggi, which was to widen blissfully, has only progressed by a small point (i.e. two in the sum of the six and a half races contested so far) !

Finally, "semi-victorious" this weekend at Monza, Tom Sykes can decently aim for the double – a true 50 points – at home in Donington to come back on the two world champions: the bets are taken with all the good ones " bookers "from across the Channel in any case.

It will simply be necessary that the weather does not completely cloud the game or, worse, does not take the cards out of our hands like it just did in Monza. Half a WSBK race is really too little. See you this weekend for the fifth round of the Superbike World Championship: stay tuned !

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