WSBK – WSBK: Checa in the dry, Sykes in the deluge –

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WSBK: Checa in the dry, Sykes in the deluge

WSBK - WSBK: Checa in the dry, Sykes in the deluge -

Biaggi package, Checa sees the title of WSBK 2011 looming more clearly on the horizon. Winner in the first round, the Spaniard was very careful in the pouring rain of the second round won by Sykes and his Ninja…

Biaggi package, Checa sees the title of WSBK 2011 looming more clearly on the horizon. Winner in the first round, the Spaniard was very careful in the pouring rain of the second round won by Sykes and his Ninja…

Max Biaggi had to grit his teeth to qualify for third on the grid, his right foot violently hitting debris on the track during practice on Friday. Unable to put on his left boot this morning, the reigning world champion was unfortunately forced to throw in the towel.

The title is therefore more clearly on the horizon for Carlos Checa, who is 71 points ahead of his closest rival in the two German races: Marco Melandri !

First Superbike race

Checa took the lead just ahead of Melandri, Haga and Laverty. From the first corner, the Japanese posted his Aprilia in 2nd position, followed by the two Yamaha boys, the Kawasaki from Sykes, the Honda from Rea, the BMW from Haslam and the Ducati from Guintoli. Berger is in 15th position.

At the first passage in front of the pits, Haga dislocates Checa but the latter regains control of the race with the following braking. Melandri and Laverty are on aspi ‘while the rest of the peloton are already a few lengths behind.

Haga returns to Checa before starting the second lap. Passed in front of Melandri in the chicane at the end of the course, Laverty widens under braking on the straight line and regains his 4th place. Behind, Haslam grabbed the lead of the hunting party ahead of Sykes, Rea, Guintoli and Smrz. In 10th place, Fabrizio loses contact a little. Berger occupies the 14th position.

Posting the fastest time of the race in 1 ’56 in the third loop, Checa separated slightly from his three pursuers. Haslam continues his effort: he gets rid of Sykes and tries to close the two-second gap between him and Laverty.

In front of the Irishman, Marco Melandri applies to stay in contact with Nitro Nori. El Torro picks up the pace but not enough to completely drop his little comrades. Haslam is still riding alone, Sykes, Rea, Fabrizio and Guintoli are riding in a very tight formation … Our favorite No.121, Maxime Berger, falls and has to give up the race.

It is in the 7th turn that Melandri manages to unleash an attack on Haga. The Yamaha n ° 33 crashes a big braking that the Aprilia n ° 41 cannot counter. A few moments later, the BMW n ° 91 is surprised in the middle of a gardening session: the podium hopes soar for Haslam who leaves 14th.

The same goes for Laverty who misses and completely leaves the track, on a fortunately paved surface … N ° 58 takes the track 2.5 seconds behind Melandri and Haga. Eugene is lucky, however: Marco also gets tangled up with his brushes on heavy braking and momentarily leaves the track.

Checa therefore found himself alone in the lead at halfway, with more than 2.5 seconds ahead of Haga. The two official drivers are now 5 seconds behind the Spaniard and compete for the 3rd step of the podium in almost every turn! Sykes, Fabrizio and Guintoli fight for 5th place, 11 seconds behind the leader.

The peloton thickens thanks to the return of Camier, accompanied by Rea and Lascorz. The battle is breathtaking and our national Sylvain is doing very well: the Ducati rider makes short work of Fabrizio and isolates himself in 5th place, leaving Camier, Haslam (back!), Rea, Sykes and Lascorz compete for 6th place.

In front, Carlos Checa extended his stride and managed his lead over Noriyuki Haga. Marco Melandri is now the fastest on the track. He drops his teammate Laverty and climbs like an arrow on Aprilia n ° 41. Five laps before the end of the race, the Italian easily overtakes the Japanese.

Marco was then more than four seconds behind Carlos. Above all, he must beware of Nitro Nori, glued to his rear wheel! Eugene rolls four seconds behind his teammate, Sylvain is 5th 13 seconds behind Checa.

The ballet continues and Guintoli is threatened, two laps from the end by Leon Haslam and his Munich missile! The Briton goes under the pots of the Ducati at the start of the last lap and overtakes the Frenchie at the last braking of the straight line.

In front, Carlos Checa gives back his hand and leads his 1098 to an 11th victory this season. Marco Melandri lodged himself out of reach of Noriyuki Haga, who climbed his 2nd podium of the year. Eugene Laverty finished in 4th place while Leon Haslam kept the advantage over Sylvain Guintoli and obtained 5th place.

Lascorz snatched 7th place in this first round, beating Camier by two thousandths on the finish line! Ayrton Badovini and Jonathan Rea complete the Top 10.

Supersport Race

Fabien Foret misses – again … – his departure and lets Rea, Ellison, Lowes and Roccoli go in the straight line. Fortunately, Fabien quickly passed Roccoli and easily climbed back on Lowes. The peloton is slightly behind: Parkes, Davies and Salom complete the first lap 1.5 seconds after Rea.

Our national n ° 99 climbed into 3rd position from the second lap but the hunting group got closer! James Ellison took the lead at the start of the third lap while Foret gradually climbed back on Rea. Chaz Davies is much faster and quickly finds himself under the pots of Fabien’s CBR Ten Kate !

The Englishman easily took 3rd place and swooped down on his compatriot Gino Rea by turning a big half a second faster! The Yamaha n ° 7 is a step above the Honda around it and takes the lead when braking the hairpin of the 6th lap.

Fabien Foret is much less comfortable. The Frenchman ejects Ellison from the third step of the podium and whips his CBR to get back on the leading duo. Behind, Sam Lowes also made a very nice comeback on the handlebars of his Honda Parkalgar: he found himself in 4th, half a second behind Fabien…

On the 8th lap, a group of seven riders returned to the front of the race. Davies still dominates but behind, the spirits are heated between Foret, Rea, Ellison, Lowes, Roccoli and Scassa. The first man to crack is unfortunately our Fabien: the CBR Ten Kate goes off the track on a paved area and joins the track in 5th position between Lowes and Roccoli.

When the halfway mark is crossed, Ellison rebels and passes Rea. James thus finds himself in 2nd position, one second behind Chaz Davies. Another Briton is in 4th place: Sam Lowes is ahead of Roccoli by a good second.

Fabien multiplies the attacks against Massimo Roccoli but fails to keep the advantage over the Kawa ‘of the Italian. His teammate and compatriot, Florian Marino, has a good race in the background and ahead of the first blades that are Salom, Harms and Parkes !

At the front, Davies slightly slows his pace, allowing Ellison and Rea – who are still running under the 2-minute mark – to catch him. Lowes is a big second from the podium, Scassa, Roccoli and Foret seem definitely beaten and are 5 seconds behind.

With six laps to go, however, Gino Rea made a mistake and offered his 3rd place to Sam Lowes. Ellison remains glued to Davies’ rear wheel. James dutifully observes Chaz and seems to realize that he will have a hard time surprising him….

In the very last lap, the Honda n ° 77 does not leave the Yamaha n ° 7 but does not make a single attack. Davies is a lot better, especially on the brakes, so Ellison can try anything. The order is therefore kept until the checkered flag. The podium, 100% British, is completed by Sam Lowes.

Italians Scassa and Roccoli finished 4th and 5th, ahead of Frenchman Fabien Foret. Florian Marino crosses the finish line in 9th place, not far from Parkes and Salom who still play the championship.

With his 5th victory – in 9 races! -, Chaz Davies flies to the provisional: the Yamaha rider accumulates 171 points, against 112 for Salom, 111 for Foret and 104 for Parkes. On the constructors’ side, Yamaha increases its lead to 32 points against Honda (201 points against 169). Kawasaki is 3rd with 145 points, Triumph brings up the rear with 24 small points.

Second Superbike race

It is on a wet track that the start of the second round is given: Laverty sets off in front of Checa but Haga, Rea and Sykes come out in front of the first corner! Laverty is 4th ahead of Guintoli, Melandri, Haslam, Camier, Smrz, Berger and Checa.

Noriyuki Haga starts beating drums ahead of Jonathan Rea: the two men split the two heats last year and the rain doesn’t seem to bother them, on the contrary! Tom Sykes nevertheless takes advantage of a gap of the Honda n ° 4 to insert himself between the two men.

Sylvain Guintoli is also very efficient in these appalling conditions: he occupies a good 4th place and moves away from Eugene Laverty instantly put under pressure by Leon Haslam then by Marco Melandri! Carlos Checa, obviously very cold by the conditions, is in 14th place behind the two BMWs of Toseland and Badovini.

Alone in the lead, Haga prints an incredible rhythm and separates distinctly from the British Sykes and Rea. Their compatriot Leon Haslam makes a mistake on his S1000RR n ° 91 and must retire.

While Guintoli is riding alone in 4th position, Laverty, Camier and Melandri set the mood by competing for 5th place. Jakub Smrz, teammate of our national Sylvain, joins the three friends as the rain intensifies !

Rea brakes again from the straight at the very start of the 5th lap and allows Tom Sykes to breathe. The n ° 66 does not spare its mount, the gaze fixed on the Aprilia n ° 41 posted in the head since the first lap.

Inseparable this Sunday, Laverty and Melandri double down on several occasions. After passing Marco, Eugene raises his hand in the straight line: would the Irishman like this event to be stopped or does he signal his teammate to stay behind? ?

In front, Haga is happy as a fish in water! The Japanese easily dominated the competition and was five seconds ahead of the Kawa ‘n ° 66 on the 6th lap. Three seconds behind, Sylvain Guintoli climbs on the 3rd step of the podium…

Further in the peloton, Checa carefully made his way: he then rolled in 12th position behind the Ducati n ° 121 of our national "Mad Max"! Badovini’s 10th place is only a few lengths away from the two 1098s…

Unperturbed, Nitro Nori steadily increases his lead over Sykes and Guintoli. Rea is racing solo in 4th position while Camier and Smrz, Laverty and Melandri fight for 5th and 7th place respectively.

Shortly before the halfway point, James Toseland fell: back from injury, the double world champion was trapped by the track that was literally flooded. He kneels and curls up on his right wrist … The black season of "DjiTi" continues relentlessly.

The 10th lap is completed and the Yamaha riders are no longer alone! Mark Aitchison, decidedly at ease on the Nurburgring track, finds himself in their aspiration … but loses the front on braking! Carlos Checa therefore inherits his 10th place.

At the forefront, nine seconds behind the masterful Haga, Guintoli and Sykes provide the show by surpassing themselves twice! The fight between the ZX-10-R and the 1098 benefits a Fireblade: Jonathan Rea’s CBR n ° 4! But this last fall at full speed at the end of the straight line and nearly mows down Sykes’ Ninja…

Leon Camier, who was riding in the middle of the pack, lost control of his Aprilia n ° 2 in the middle of the turn. He was forced to give up, unlike Johnny Rea who set off again on his Honda, although it was badly damaged. Only 15 riders remain 7 laps from the end !

A handful of seconds later, it’s the turn of a new pilot to feel the tarmac, and not the least: Noriyuki Haga! Tom Sykes is therefore in the lead of this incredible race with 4 seconds ahead of Sylvain Guintoli and more than 22 seconds over Jakub Smrz. !

The red flag is finally waved with 6 laps from the end and allows the new ZX-10R to achieve its first victory in World Superbike! The two Ducatis from the Effenbert team of Guintoli and Smrz completed the podium, ahead of the "customized" Honda by – and by! – Rea.

Carlos Checa finished in a cautious 8th place and therefore yielded only two points to his closest rival in the championship, Marco Melandri. The Spaniard leaves Germany with a total of 376 points, against 302 for Marco. Max Biaggi’s score remains stuck at 281 points.

Thanks to the new victory for Checa, but also to 2nd and 3rd places for Guintoli and Smrz in the second round, Ducati (400 points) increases his lead in the constructors’ championship to 49 points. Yamaha has 351, Aprilia 336, BMW 214, Kawasaki 171, Suzuki 158 and Honda 132.

Next meeting for the World Superbike: in Imola in Italy, the country of Melandri and Biaggi of course, but also that of Ducati and Aprilia! Stay connected…

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