WSBK – For Melandri, the real 2012 WSBK champion is Sykes –

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For Melandri, the real WSBK 2012 champion is Sykes

WSBK - For Melandri, the real 2012 WSBK champion is Sykes -

Marco Melandri has just published the results of his 2012 season on his official website: satisfied with his first year at BMW, the Italian driver congratulates Biaggi and Aprilia but considers Sykes more deserving ! Leon Haslam for his part is already training…

"The season is over, once again…", has just titled Marco Melandri on the front page of his official website. No nostalgia, however, on the part of the" Maccio "since he is generally satisfied with his fifteenth year to travel the circuits around the world !

Admittedly, his end of the season was laborious … not to say disastrous: after his which had propelled him to the top of the championship, the BMW rider finished only one race out of six and let his two slip away. great rivals Biaggi and Sykes.

2012 contract fulfilled for Melandri

"I must not forget the real objective set at the beginning of the year and the place from which we set out", relativizes the famous n ° 33. In his specifications, he had for example to gain at least once the S1000RR, which had not yet succeeded in doing Corser and Haslam…

Marco will have finally won six races at the controls of the German missile, one more than the champion Biaggi on his RSV4! Less consistent than last year on the late official Yamaha R1 (11 podiums in 2012 against 15 in 2011), Melandri could not however keep his "title" of vice-champion.

"This championship has been exciting", nevertheless testifies the Italian pilot:"I want to congratulate Max for this success and Aprilia for its effective team strategy", he underlines, subtly alluding to the instructions scrupulously respected by Eugene Laverty, especially in Moscow….

"Finally, congratulations to Tom Sykes who is never mentioned (except on Site of course, Editor’s note!) but showed he was a great driver, he deserved the title more than anyone in my opinion", points out Melandri before ruling:"he was the real champion" !

Still according to Marco, "2013 will be an extraordinary year to follow and live". And the Hedgehog of Ravenna to be personally delighted to find the same motorcycle again next year: it has not happened to him for seven years. !

He will still have to go through some changes next year: "Gobmeier (the sports director of the official BMW team in 2012, Editor’s note) is leaving and our team will be led by an Italian team", he says, confident. After all, Max Biaggi himself had to rebuild his own team last winter !

But before starting it, Marco first wishes to breathe: "it is very likely that my left malleolus has a small fracture and I have chest pain since my last fall", diagnoses the former star of the Grand Prix."So I’ll take the time to listen to my body and stop for a bit".

He rests a little, a lot … not at all !

A speech that evokes that of John Hopkins: after a year marked by and especially by a severe hip injury, the Anglo-American pilot decided to put his career on hold in order to focus on his health.

"I didn’t want to commit to the Fixi Crescent Suzuki team for 2013 and not be able to give 100% because of this injury which is constantly bothering me", said Hopper wisely:"it’s a tough decision to make, but it’s the right one".

We do not know for the moment who will accompany Leon Camier on the second GSX-R. The name of Sylvain Guintoli – who rode for the same team in the British Superbike in 2009 – is naturally mentioned. "Wait and see", as our favorite Frenchie would say. As for Max Biaggi, we are still awaiting his retirement plans? – for 2013…

Chaz Davies has already obtained the second handlebars within the future "semi-official" BMW Italia team, alongside Marco Melandri. Leon Haslam, who shared his box with the n ° 33, will return next year to the CBR1000RR with which he rode when he returned to World Superbike four years ago..

The n ° 91 did not waste any time since it made its first laps yesterday at the controls of the official Fireblade pampered by the Ten Kate team! Unfortunately, the times set by the 2010 runner-up were not disclosed, nor his comments. p> The Honda team is just allowed to tweet that "everything was very positive on both rim sizes". As a reminder, the Superbikes will roll in 2013 on 17 inches, against 16.5" in previous years. With their trompe l’oeil optics, they will look even more like production motorcycles !

The arrival of Dorna (MotoGP promoter, read) to the reins of the WSBK championship could well accentuate this trend.

Finally, Marco Melandri himself testifies in his report: "there have been a lot of rumors about it last week. I have the same information as you, and I have no idea what the future of both championships will be, so we just have to wait."… by staying connected to the Site of course !

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