WSBK – Checa champion of Imola, Biaggi world champion! –

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Checa champion of Imola, Biaggi world champion !

WSBK - Checa champion of Imola, Biaggi world champion! -

Sunday in Imola, Italy only had eyes for its first Superbike world champion: Max Biaggi! We could almost forget Carlos Checa’s double and the great performances of two other Ducati riders: Haga and Lanzi. First race SBK Sykes gets off to a great start and takes the lead ahead of Haslam, Corser, Smrz, Lanzi, Scassa, Crutchlow, 

Sunday in Imola, Italy only had eyes for its first Superbike world champion: Max Biaggi! We could almost forget Carlos Checa’s double and the great performances of two other Ducati riders: Haga and Lanzi.

First SBK race

Sykes got off to a superb start and took the lead in the race ahead of Haslam, Corser, Smrz, Lanzi, Scassa, Crutchlow, Biaggi and Checa. Supercharged, Tom and his Ninja manage to widen a gap on their pursuers in the first three loops.

Biaggi, who is playing his title at home, is under pressure and goes down in the standings: in the third loop, Max is passed by our national Sylvain Guintoli after having made a spectacular exit from the track. The n ° 3 Aprilia must come to its senses … and let the n ° 91 Suzuki escape !

Last seats for Magny-Cours !

To attend the final of the Mondial Superbike at Magny-Cours, the Journal moto du Net is offering all holders of the three-day pass. !

More diligent than Max, Leon Haslam fits in the rear wheel of the leader. In too much of a hurry, Troy Corser goes straight with his BMW and sees his podium hopes vanish. Lanzi and Smrz on the contrary continue to fight for third place and are closely followed by Checa.

Further on, at the gates of the Top5, Haga is flanked by the two official Yamaha. Although originally Japanese, the R1s are prepared in Italy and also run "at home". This is to say if the fight against the Ducati n ° 41 is fierce !

In the sixth lap, while bickering with Scassa, Biaggi leaves the track again: he is now 14th, while Haslam is in 2nd position! Will Biaggi’s title be transferred to Magny-Cours? Not necessarily…

Because the next loop, it’s Leon Haslam’s turn to cut a chicane through the gravel pit. The English driver fell back to 4th place behind Lanzi and Checa. Tom Sykes continues to delight his team: he leads the race … but Lorenzo Lanzi is back, to the great joy of the tifosis !

The French clan meanwhile must be satisfied with Sylvain’s progress in the heart of the peloton. Shortly before the halfway point, our favorite n ° 50 is in 9th position.

It was twelve laps from the end that Lanzi attacked in the chicane before the straight. The braking and the sharp focus on the angle are unstoppable, Sykes can only bow. The order taking by the private Ducati n ° 57 also benefits another unofficial Ducat ‘: the n ° 7 de Checa.

As the halfway mark is crossed, Lanzi gradually moves away while Sykes has to resist the return of Checa and Haslam. Smrz is a little further behind and must defend his fifth place against Crutchlow, Haga and Fabrizio.

Ten laps from the finish, Checa grabbed second place and quickly ran back to Lanzi. Haslam doesn’t take a full turn to blow up the Sykes lock. The poor Kawasaki rider is banned from the podium but can still achieve his best result of the season.

Biaggi, on the contrary, is not in his best form: he rolls in 11th position while his enemy No. 91 in the championship is fighting at the forefront. It must be storming under the four-star helmet !

On the 15th lap, Carlos Checa surprised Lorenzo Lanzi in braking the end of the straight line. The Spaniard seems to be a good tone above his opponent. In a few bends elsewhere, the ex-MotoGP star climbs out of reach.

Meanwhile, in the chase group, Noriyuki Haga steals his 4th place from Tom Sykes. Max Biaggi meanwhile does not spare his RSV4 and tries to get back on Crutchlow posted in 10th position. His mount does not appreciate much and calls him to order by hopping: hot !

Also boiling, Haslam does not hesitate to bite into the grass to make the inside in the big break on the left after the pits! In short, three laps from the end of the race, the public does not know where to turn – and neither does MNC !

In the last two laps, however, everyone’s attention turned to the duel for the victory between Carlos Checa and Leon Haslam. The first wants revenge for the blow of Miller’s fate stolen by technical glitches) while the other seeks to score the most points to keep a small chance in the championship.

Exterior, interior … Suzuki n ° 91 seeks but finds no opening on the leading Ducati n ° 7. It also ends up not doing too much just a few turns from the finish line: Leon delays his braking too much, passes in front of Carlos but goes out in the gravel…

Carlos therefore won the first round at Imola ahead of Lanzi and Haga. Haslam still crossed the checkered flag in 5th position behind Smrz. Max Biaggi finished a tough race in 11th place. He will have to drive cleaner in the second round to properly celebrate his coronation potential: for this, the Italian will not have to give up more than 2 points to Haslam..

Second Superbike race

Tom Sykes sets off again perfectly from his pole and takes the lead in the race ahead of Haslam, Biaggi, Lanzi, Corser, Xaus,

From the first passage in the long right at the end of the circuit, Lanzi passes Biaggi. A few turns later, it’s Haslam’s turn to have to let the fiery No. 57 pass … But in the final chicane, the crazy Ducati leans heavily on the leading Kawasaki but cannot overtake it. Lanzi cannot accelerate correctly and lets slip the places !

After this first historic lap, the race calmed down a bit: Sykes led ahead of Haslam and Biaggi while Checa remained in 4th place. At the start of the 3rd lap, the Spaniard overtook Max and climbed into the aspiration of the Suzuki n ° 91 which showed signs of impatience behind the Kawa ‘n ° 66.

Haslam failing to overtake Sykes, Checa slips into 2nd position and leaves the two championship leaders to explain themselves. Behind the four men, Lanzi and Fabrizio are holding on and have slightly left the peloton led by Corser.

Just before starting the 6th lap, Carlos Checa took control and quickly isolated himself in the lead. Leon Haslam is once again confronted with the "wall" Tom Sykes while Max Biaggi stays behind him, in the company of Michel Fabrizio and Lorenzo Lanzi…

While Sykes acts as a buffer for Checa, Noriyuki Haga scrambles and double Corser to get back on the hunting party. A slightly dispersed group following a straight shot by Haslam in the last chicane as he tried to overtake Sykes.

The Gex driver returns to the track in 6th position, apologizing … and virtually losing his chances of winning the 2010 title! Visibly moved – or excited – at the idea of ​​becoming the first Italian SBK world champion, Max Biaggi makes exactly the same blunder as Haslam the following round.

Fortunately for him, the Italian driver can recover his 3rd place before attacking the straight line! Fourteenth on the grid Nitro Nori sits in the public darling backsplash – Max, who else? – and even momentarily passes in front of him.

While the eminent mathematicians fans of Mondial Superbike calculate the odds of Max Biaggi‘s coronation as they go, all their work is greatly simplified thanks to the engine of Haslam’s GSX-R 1000 which decides to give up the ghost. in the 11th round !

Leon must give up and Max is now titled whatever his result! On the track, however, the fight continues: Checa is alone in the lead but Sykes, Haga and Biaggi are rolling wheel in wheel. Behind, Crutchlow has ten laps to regain the three seconds that separate him from the infernal trio..

With nine laps to go, Haga climbs to the second step of the podium. His teammate Fabrizio is much less happy: he falls and will not be able to finish his second race.

In just two laps, Cal Crutchlow and his R1 joined Biaggi’s RSV4 and Sykes’ ZX-10R. The Englishman takes the time to observe and overtakes Max at the end of the 16th lap. It took him three more laps to kick Tom off the podium. Three laps from the checkered flag, the podium seems certain: Checa has been riding solo since the 7th lap and Haga is too far to be caught by Crutchlow.

The last two loops are done calmly – although you have to see how all of the riders ride their Superbikes! – and allow Biaggi to parade in front of his audience. The Italian, on the strength of his excellent 2010 season, finally wins his fifth star !

Carlos Checa therefore won the double at Imola. In this second round, he was ahead of two other Ducatis, but it was indeed Max Biaggi and Aprilia who received the most applause. From the edge of the track, Leon Haslam does not fail to congratulate his opponent … and give him an appointment next year !

The way a Rossi – or a Lorenzo now ?! – Max the Pirate stages the discovery of the secret location of the 2010 title, hidden on the island of Imola. Italy is jubilant: for the first time in the history of the World Superbike, an Italian rider wins the world title.

Aprilia will have to wait a little longer to win the constructor title … Noale’s firm totals 433 points against 392 for its cousin from Bologna: the 50 points at stake in France will therefore be decisive. Suzuki (379 pts) is now out of the race, being 54 points behind Aprilia. Behind are Yamaha (307), Honda (305), BMW (201) and Kawasaki (100).

Supersport Race

In Supersport, the two championship leaders engaged in a merciless duel: Kenan Sofuoglu and Eugene Laverty did not part for a single second throughout the 21 laps of the race. Yet it is another CBR600RR that wins in the end: that of Michele Pirro !

The young rookie of the Ten Kate team was lucky to say the least this Sunday in Imola: fourth at the start of the last lap, Pirro first saw Chaz Davies forced to return to the pits after a broken fuel pump on his Daytona 675. The young Briton then yields to the Italian his third step on the podium … But the "most beautiful" is yet to come !

Worn out by an incredible battle against Kenan, Eugene made a mistake in the very last braking of the circuit: the n ° 50 lost the front of his CBR in the final chicane and mowed down his opponent n ° 54! Falling to less than 50 km / h, the machines have nothing and allow their pilots to finish the race, not without letting the n ° 51 pass..

Pirro therefore won "his" round at Imola, ahead of Sofuoglu and Laverty. The latter will therefore fight in France for the title: Kenan advantage for the moment, who has 243 points against 227 for Eugene. But beware, we just saw it: nothing is ever decided in advance in Mondial Supersport !

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