WSBK – It’s raining, it’s raining Bayliss … –

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It’s raining, it’s raining Bayliss…

WSBK - It's raining, it's raining Bayliss ... -

At Silverstone this weekend, the main animator of the Superbike and Supersport races was not a rider but the rain: on a flooded British track, the handlebar aces turned into tightrope walkers … Video review and interviews.

Qualifying practice takes place Friday and Saturday in good conditions: the drivers are running dry and after Bayliss on the first day, Corser has the best time on race tires just before the Superpole event..

In the delicate exercise of the lap launched on soft rubber, Troy Bayliss is finally doing the best, ahead of Noriyuki Haga by only 19 thousandths! James Toseland is less than a hundredth behind the two leading men and Lorenzo Lanzi closes the first row 3 tenths behind his team-mate Ducati.

Due to an error in the middle of the course, Troy Corser finished 5th, followed by Ruben Xaus and the two Suzuki Alstare riders: Yukio Kagayama and Max Biaggi. Then the two members of the Honda Alto Evolution team – Karl Muggeridge and Josh Brookes – seize the first two places on the 3rd row, ahead of Fonsi Nieto and Jakub Smrz.

The 4th row is then made up of Roberto Rolfo who is ahead of our national Regis Laconi on his ZX-10R, followed by Michel Fabrizio and Max Neukirchner, who fails in 16th place after his fall in the only time lap. These positions should have given a glimpse of the course of the races, but the pouring rain on Sunday will decide otherwise….

Supersport side, Sebastien Charpentier seems to have returned to his highest level: in the first row, the Charentais is more than 4 tenths ahead of his teammate Kenan Sofuoglu and relegates Broc Parkes and Massimo Roccoli to more than a second !

Two other Frenchmen – Fabien Foret and Yoann Tiberio – lead the second row, completed by Katsuaki Fujiwara and Gianluca Nannelli. Robbin Harms, Pere Riba, David Checa – driver of the GMT94 team at the forefront during all tests – and Barry Veneman make up the third row.

Behind troublemaker Craig Jones, Matthieu Lagrive achieved a promising 14th time while Sebastien Gimbert, Gregory Leblanc and Julien Enjolras ranked 22, 28 and 31st respectively. But in 600cc more than in 1000cc, the wet track will redistribute the cards !

First Superbike race

Bayliss took the lead ahead of Haga, Toseland, Corser, Muggeridge and Brookes. Fabrizio, on the other hand, is surprised by the literally flooded English track and loses the front of his Honda: Michel is forced to give up on the first corner….

Lorenzo Lanzi is "pushed around by someone":"five or six pilots walked past me and I couldn’t see anything in front of me. But halfway through the race I went from 16th to 7th position", will rejoice the young Italian, finishing the race in the same 7th place.

In the first chicane, Troy Corser passed James Toseland while Karl Muggeridge in his turn lost the grip of his front tire and nearly mowed down his teammate Josh Brookes! The fastest pilot to find his feet in these apocalyptic conditions, Troy Corser overtakes his teammate Haga and leaves to join Troy Bayliss.

Toseland tries to stay in contact with Haga but his rear tire slips twice in a row at the start of the straight line: the race could be long for the local on the stage! The same goes for Max Biaggi who is in 8th place far behind Laconi, Rolfo and Kagayama. "At first I was behind Yukio and I could see that he was having big trouble going around. The bike skated a lot compared to the others", will specify Max.

But it’s one of Toseland’s many drifts that suddenly turns into an inevitable highside, unseating – with relative gentleness – the pilot of his CBR1000RR. A few rolls before later, the championship leader straightens his Honda, slaps on his handlebars while water – rain accumulated in the fairing? – sinks on the left side of his Honda … James starts again penultimate: 18th just ahead of Dean Ellison.

"My handlebars were loose and I lost all the water in my engine because the radiator hose had come off", explained later Toseland, who can thank the English weather, disastrous concerning the track conditions but beneficial for its Honda engine" with air cooling and rain " !

In front, Corser threatens Bayliss and ends up stealing the lead of the race on the 4th lap. The "crocodile" Corser – of which it is "the first race entirely in the rain since riding the Yamaha", recalled Troy – quickly moves away from the" kangaroo "Bayliss who sees the explosive" Nitro "Nori coming back on him.

In the same lap, the fight for 6th position between Biaggi, Kagayama, Nieto, Brookes and Smrz is in full swing, but this group is already more than 10 seconds behind the leading men. !

The following laps are marked by the ascent of James Toseland. Still 18th on the 5th lap, the No.52 of Ten Kate turns two seconds slower than Corser, but this pace nevertheless allows him to hang on to 12th place eight laps later, James being carried by the incessant encouragement of the English public.

In the meantime on lap 10, Bayliss has regained command and tries to escape. Biaggi for his part is 7th because Brookes is passed in front of him! The Roman Emperor certainly takes points at Toseland, but he concedes more to his opponents who roll far ahead…

"I almost fell and was lucky to make it out, however, will note the famous n ° 3! "I did a highside: the bike went from one side then the other. When I landed on it my right leg hit the footrest so hard it broke it", will specify Biaggi, unable to fight at the forefront.

It is to avoid this kind of inconvenience that our French Regis Laconi "don’t attack too much and just try to finish the race without taking unnecessary risks".

In the 14th lap Josh Brookes fell and returned Max to 6th place. In front of the Italian, Regis leads his ZX-10R skilfully but far ahead, Roberto Rolfo performs an equally convincing performance on his CBR Ten Kate.

Posted in 5th position, our national driver is delighted with his isolated race, far from being a solo race: "I have to thank the guys who flagged me because their good communication allowed me to manage my lead over my pursuers", will recognize the n ° 55 !

Up front, the pace is still impressive and the gaps fluctuate depending on the heat – both accelerating and braking – that these incredible tightrope walkers do alternately: Bayliss, Corser and Haga.

In the 15th lap, the slip suffered by Bayliss in the braking of Priory marks the acceleration of the pace in the race of the three leading men. And paradoxically, it is the Ducati rider that this umpteenth loss of grip is most successful. !

In fact, the Yamaha riders behind Bayliss were undoubtedly more impressed by their competitor’s catch up in extremis than Bayliss himself! Suddenly, the reigning world champion leaves again and leaves Corser and Haga to explain themselves.

But in the 18th lap, the two Yam pilots – then behind by 1.6 seconds – take half a second from the leader: there are 10 laps left and nothing is decided yet! Haga also passed his teammate before the final chicane while a second earlier in the same place, Bayliss had just put a lap to Kagayama 14th !

Between the "pif" and the "paf", Nitro Nori also puts a spin on his compatriot and best friend. On exiting the chicane, Bayliss and Haga accelerate harder than Corser, slightly hampered by Kagayama who has nowhere to stand. Behind, Rolfo secured his 4th place 20 seconds behind the best, followed by Laconi (35 sec), Biaggi (45 sec), Nieto, Xaus, Lanzi, Neukirchner and Toseland (more than a minute!).

Toseland did not take long to overtake Neukirchner and was therefore in 10th place. Kagayama falls and returns to the pits: "as my bike was acting oddly, I changed my riding style and attempted to ride in a casting manner. I wanted to understand what was going on. I knew that by attacking I would fall so I rolled slowly and suddenly: the highside! If I had been very quick I would have understood but it was not the case !", is still surprised Yukio !

At the same time, his teammate Max Biaggi spins 4 seconds slower than the leaders … Unlike the new Bandits (read), the GSX-R 1000 wouldn’t like the water ?

In the 22nd lap, Nieto – after having brilliantly turned at Le Mans in similar conditions on the MotoGP Kawa -, errs on the handlebars of his ZX-10R and leaves his 7th place to Lanzi.

Between the 24th and the 27th lap, Bayliss improves the lap record in the race! But in the penultimate loop, Haga posted a superb 1’37.005 which, if he did not allow him to get back under the pipes of the Ducati n ° 21, ensured him a comfortable lead over the Yamaha n ° 11 of his. teammate.

In his last lap, Bayliss takes the luxury of overtaking James Toseland 8th, soon imitated by Haga! The public applauds the successive passage under the checkered flag of Bayliss, Haga and Toseland but it is indeed Corser who climbs on the last step of the podium. !

Rolfo is 4th at 50 seconds, Laconi 5th (1 ’09), Biaggi 6th (1′ 20) and Lanzi 7th: he is the last competitor to be in the same lap as the first !

SBK Silverstone first round results:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 Bayliss T. Ducati Xerox 46 ‘02.875 28
2 Haga N. Yamaha Motor Italia 46 ‘04.910 28
3 Corser T. Yamaha Motor Italia 46 ‘07.443 28
4 Rolfo R. Honda hannspree 46 ‘52.914 28
5 Laconi R. Kawasaki PSG-1 47 ‘12.509 28
6 Biaggi M. Suzuki Alstare Corona 47 ‘23.857 28
7 Lanzi L. Ducati Xerox 47 ‘35.936 28
8 Toseland J. Honda hannspree 46 ‘06.015 27
9 Xaus R. Ducati Sterilgarda 46 ‘15.898 27
10 Neukirchner M. Suzuki Germany 46 ‘20.019 27
11 Iannuzzo V. Kawasaki PSG-1 46 ‘34.206 27
12 Morelli L. Honda DFX Corsica 46 ‘34.786 27
13 Nakatomi S. Yamaha YZF 46 ‘40.240 26
14 Nieto F. Kawasaki PSG-1 35 ‘51.190 21
15 Kagayama Y. Suzuki Alstare Corona 35 ‘57.266 20

Best round of the round: 1 ‘37.005 – Haga (27th round)
Best lap in previous race: 1 ‘26.299 – Bayliss (2006)

Supersport Race

Emerging from his second place on the grid, Sofuoglu tackles Copse well ahead, ahead of Roccoli, Parkes and Charpentier. But from this first turn, the Turkish goes to the fault !

"I had a good feeling on the bike during the warm-up lap so I was very optimistic on the grid and thought I had a good chance of getting on the podium or even winning.", Kenan explains. But instead, the rear end of his CBR600RR # 54 slips away and sends it waltzing in the gravel. !

"I went too fast on the warm-up lap, the tires warmed up but cooled off when I was on the grid", concluded Sofuoglu sheepish but still leading the championship with his 145 points !

We then hope that General Seb will take advantage of this fall to move up the rankings by pocketing the 25 points for the victory, but it is not so: lost in 23rd position, the Charentais sorely lacking "feeling and grip at the front and rear"…

Fortunately, Fabien Foret is doing much better: "with Sofuoglu’s crash the race must have been good for me and even if I don’t like these conditions I thought that the best for me was to do everything to stay on my wheels and score points".

A method that our Kawa pilot tries to follow from the first lap (4th) to the last lap (4th!). On the contrary, Yoann Tiberio intoxicated by his excellent start – he was in 5th place on the 1st lap – fell in his second loop…

But French hopes are not all gone, on the contrary! While Parkes left alone in the lead, Matthieu Lagrive made his way from 13th to 6th place during the first half of the race. While taking advantage of the falls of competitors in front of him, Matt maintains a good pace and proves that he has his place in the world elite. !

For their part, the members of the GMT94 team are in 19th and 20 place at the end of the 1st lap and fight during the first 8 laps with eight other pilots including Julien Enjolras! Behind Sebastien Charpentier is overtaken by Gregory Leblanc then by Broc Parkes: the double reigning world champion is one lap behind the leading man !

This is too much for n ° 16 and his team Ten Kate: Seb returns to the pits. "I want to be able to finish the championship in a good place and also help my teammate", sighs the unlucky Honda rider whose result in the dry would have been quite different…

Meanwhile, a pilot literally flies over the runway: Anthony West! Substitute for Kevin Curtain for the second time in a row – remember his superb 3rd place at Monza two weeks ago (read) – the young Australian driver from the 250cc proves that he is also better – in the wet only on dry !

While he was 7th almost 5 seconds behind Parkes at the end of the 1st lap, Anthony took the lead of the race before the 7th lap and chained the loops two seconds faster than his teammates Parkes (then 2nd), however much more experienced riding the R6 !

At the cost of great scares – including a very impressive one at the end of the straight line during which West’s feet leave their footrests for a long time – the Yamaha rider has five laps more than 8 seconds ahead of Parkes … and 28 dry on Roccoli then 3rd !

The Italian and his Yam are also dangerously hunted down by Robbin Harms and his Honda. The Dutchman finally took advantage of the 15th passage in the straight line to pass Roccoli and inherit the last step of the podium.

Three loops later, it’s Fujiwara’s turn to put pressure on the shoulders of another Italian on Yam R6: Viziello! After passing Lagrive, the two friends are engaged in a superb battle. But the supercharged Japanese ended up obtaining the coveted 5th place by passing Viziello … on the outside !

Thus Fabien Foret is in the crosshairs of the Japanese! The French did what he could to resist, even climbed up on Roccoli (3rd) but was passed in the 19th lap by Fujiwara. The Honda rider seems determined to try everything for everything, after being handicapped by the presence of mist on his visor at the start of the race..

In the 20th lap, Katsuaki overtook Massimo and immediately took off. There are six laps to go and the 15 seconds behind that Fujiwara is counting on Harms seems insurmountable … But who knows what the race has in store ?

And indeed, the race offers a funny surprise: the red flag! Agitated in the 23rd lap after the fall of Roccoli, it means that the classification retained is that of the previous lap, provided that each driver "validates" his position by returning to the pits in less than 5 minutes.

In the end, therefore, Anthony West wins ahead of Robbin Harms and Katsuaki Fujiwara. Fabien Foret fails three seconds from the podium but is not offended: "I would have liked to make the podium but today it was better to score points", notes the second in the championship.

Note that among the top 15 in this race, five are French: behind Fabien, Matthieu Lagrive finished 6th, Julien Enjolras 9th, Sebastien Gimbert 12th – he will soon be doing long tests in Carole to test "injection settings different from those tested on David’s bike", assures his team – and Gregory Leblanc 14th !

Finally, let us point out the remarkable absence of the talented Nannelli during this race. During the morning warm-up, the Ducati rider went highside and unfortunately went under the "airfence" protections, violently hitting the safety rail. According to doctors at the mobile clinic, the Italian should not join the Mondial Supersport for two months…

In the championship, Kenan Sofuoglu keeps a comfortable lead of 45 points over Foret (100 pts) but nevertheless showed that the title had not yet been won, far from it. Fujiwara is still third (69) but Harms gains three places: he is now 4th with 59 points !

In two participations, Anthony West climbed to 7th place (41) just ahead of the other “intermittent” Andrew Pitt (40). At the bottom of the standings, Lagrive (10) and Enjolras (7) scored their first points in the year … hope many more will follow !

Among manufacturers, Honda (165 points) yields 5 points to Yamaha (3rd, 107 pts), which comes down to 3 small points from Kawasaki (110). Suzuki is fourth (54) ahead of Ducati (43).

SSP Silverstone Results:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 West A. Yamaha World SSP 39 ‘16.245 22
2 Harms R. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 39 ‘49.722 22
3 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 40 ‘04.302 22
4 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 40 ‘08.022 22
5 Viziello G. Yamaha RG Team 40 ‘10.540 22
6 Lagrive M. Honda Intermoto Czech 40 ‘17.824 22
7 Fores J. Honda HP Racing 40 ‘53.821 22
8 Alfonsi L. Honda althea 41 ‘08.351 22

9

 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 41 ‘09.429 22
10 Veneman B. Suzuki Pioneer Hoegee 39 ‘16.868 21
11 Praia M. Honda Team Parkalgar 39 ‘26.330 21
12 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 39 ‘36.066 21
13 Gunther J. DHonda CRS Grand Prix 39 ‘49.023 21

14

 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 40 ‘44.006 21
15 Lascorz J. Honda Glaner Motocard.com 40 ‘51.121 21
26 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 16 ‘14.947 8
28 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 11 ‘24.741 6
31 Tiberio Y. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 1 ‘53,465 1

Best round of the round: 1 ‘44.188 – West (6th round)
Best lap in previous race: 1 ‘29.027 – Carpenter (2005)

Provisional SSP classification:

Pilot Team Points
1 Sofuoglu K. Honda hannspree 145
2 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 100
3 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 69
4 Harms R. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 59
5 Veneman B. Suzuki Pioneer Hoegee 47
6 Nannelli G. Ducati SC Caracchi 43
7 West A. Yamaha World SSP 41
8 Pitt A. Honda hannspree 40
9 Salom D. Yamaha Spain 34
10 Alfonsi L. Honda althea 34
11 Roccoli M. Yamaha Italia 33
12 Riba P. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 30
13 Parkes B. Yamaha World SSP 27
14 Curtain K. Yamaha World SSP 25
15 Jones C. Honda Revè Ekerold 25

16

 Tiberio Y. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 24

18

 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 23
22 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 20
24 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 13
25 Lagrive M. Honda Intermoto Czech 10
27 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 7
29 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 6

Second Superbike race

Despite a slight lull, the second round was finally canceled by the organizers, following excessive rainfall in the middle of the afternoon….

"The first portion was full of water or when you arrive in the chicane, it’s in fifth and you do not control anything in the event of aquaplanning: that would be stupid.", agrees Troy Bayliss, disappointed however not to be able to attempt the pass of two !

"It is sometimes on days like this that a championship can be played.", explains the Ducati rider, who grabbed some precious points in the championship (189 pts), without stealing his 3rd place from a Max Biaggi who was very delicate during the 1st and only round of Silverstone.

"I think canceling the second race was the right decision because there was a lot of standing water on the track and the projections made it impossible to see where we were going.", assures the Roman Emperor, a bit … sissy ?!

However, the Italian is not the only one to deplore the state of the track: Troy Corser for example supports the decision taken by admitting that during the reconnaissance lap, he had "almost fallen twice" !

"Of course I am disappointed about the second race: I am a driver and I was ready to ride and make up for lost points during the first round", calculates for his part James Toseland. But"safety comes first and I respect the decision taken by the organizers", concludes the British pilot, necessarily" fair play ".

Toseland therefore retains the lead in the provisional classification (237 points) but Haga continues to approach (214) and Biaggi is far from having said his last word (201). Laconi thanks to his excellent result wins two places: he is 10th with 62 points.

On the constructor side, Honda (251 pts) was caught up by Yamaha (237) and Ducati (234), while Suzuki temporarily slowed down (201), including against Kawasaki (88): Laconi scored one point more than Biaggi this week-end !

Provisional SBK classification:

Pilot Team Points
1 Toseland J. Honda hannspree 237
2 Haga N. Yamaha Motor Italia 214
3 Biaggi M. Suzuki Alstare Corona 201
4 Bayliss T. Ducati Xerox 189
5 Corser T. Yamaha Motor Italia 151
6 Lanzi L. Ducati Xerox 116
7 Xaus R. Ducati Sterilgarda 113
8 Rolfo R. Honda hannspree 90
9 Neukirchner M. Suzuki Germany 87
10 Laconi R. Kawasaki PSG-1 62
11 Kagayama Y. Suzuki Alstare Corona 60
12 Fabrizio M. Honda DFX Corsica 59
13 Nieto F. Kawasaki PSG-1 46
14 Smrz J. Ducati SC Caracchi 44
15 Brookes J. Honda Alto Evolution 40

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