WSBK – The gaps are narrowing in the championship! –

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The gaps are narrowing in the championship !

WSBK - The gaps are narrowing in the championship! -

Sunday morning, Toseland comfortably led the SBK World Cup ahead of Haga, Biaggi and Bayliss. Two races later, James is still leading but the suspense has increased remarkably! In Supersport, West shines again… Report and video.

68,000 spectators have gathered around the new Misano circuit (read), and most want to see Ducati – whose seat is only a hundred kilometers away – obtain its 11th double in 17 races.

Dominating the trials from start to finish, the two Troys fought a superb battle during the Superpole on Saturday afternoon. And for the 40th time in his career, Corser finally took pole position, setting an impressive time of 1 ‘34.948.

Second fastest time but located above the 1 ’35 mark, Troy Bayliss will start ahead of Haga and Toseland. The Englishman, whose pace in practice is slightly behind his main opponents, is about to experience a difficult Sunday.

In the second row, the two Suzuki Alstare of Biaggi and Kagayama supervise the locals of the stage: the Ducati of Lanzi and Xaus. We must wait for the third row to see the name of Regis Laconi appear, preceded by Rolfo and Neukirchner, Fabrizio completing this third row.

In Supersport, it was very close for Anthony West – replacing Curtain for the third consecutive round – to score his very first pole! Finally, his compatriot and teammate Parkes set the best time (1 ‘39.156), ahead of West, Foret and Sofuoglu.

Craig Jones took the lead in the second row ahead of the native Sanna, the Japanese Fujiwara and the Spanish Riba. Charpentier is only in third row ahead of Roccoli, Harms and Vizziello and will not have to waste too much time battling with the Italians to reach the head of the race..

The other French are dispatched in 13th position for Tiberio, 18th for Lagrive, 24th for Gimbert, 26th for Checa – Spanish but foal of Christophe Guyot! -, 28th for Leblanc and 34th for Enjolras.

First Superbike race

Bayliss took control of the race from the first meters ahead of Corser, Biaggi, Haga, Lanzi, Laconi and Kagayama. The two official Yamaha – Corser and Haga – set out in pursuit of the world champion Ducati, leaving Biaggi’s GSX-R alone.

Behind the four leading men, Laconi and Toseland are fighting for 5th place on the handlebars of particularly delicate machines to take along.

"I had started well but I lost a few places because of the vibrations which prevented me from attacking as I would have liked. It was exhausting to drive in these conditions and extremely difficult to finish the race", will testify our national Regis, valiant 7th of this first round !

It was in the 3rd lap that Toseland stole his 5th place from Laconi and thus took shelter from Kagayama and Lanzi. Because the Japanese and the Italian are easily hoisted under the pots of the ZX-RR of the French who has exceptionally abandoned his timeless green dress to wear the national colors of San Marino sponsor.

In the 6th lap, Haga and Corser continue to argue just behind the unruffled Bayliss, as does Biaggi who patiently follows them. Meanwhile, Toseland gives way – he’s more than 3 seconds away – and Kagayama passes Laconi, directly threatened by Lanzi.

Three laps later, Nitro Nori took the lead, his teammate Corser even momentarily passing second in front of a cautious Bayliss: "when I saw that I wasn’t digging a gap on Nori, I wondered if I shouldn’t let him do a bit of work but I’ve tried this kind of thing in the past and it hasn’t worked", explained the Australian.

The Japanese still finished 11 laps in the lead, but could not get rid of Bayliss, nor Biaggi who passed Corser on the 15th lap, the two men hanging on within 2 seconds of the leader. In the 20th round, Troy Bayliss therefore decides to take matters in hand…

Ducati rider n ° 21 took the lead and plunged "head in the handlebars"in order to create a significant gap in the last 4 laps. In the previous lap, Kagayama just passed Toseland in braking on the angle of Curva Querica, but the 8 seconds behind Corser and Biaggi deprive him of any hope of a podium … Unless the Mondial Superbike has in store for us, once again, a big surprise ?

Indeed, the surprise – it actually looks like a big blunder – comes from Max Biaggi! Coming back like an arrow on Noriyuki Haga, the Roman Emperor enters very hard in the second of the three breaks before the pin on the right of the last section.

The famous n ° 3 rose to the level of the no less famous n ° 41 when it was time to plunge back down the stretch … Haga then carefully inscribed in his trajectory but did not see the Biaggi fury land … or rather embark the GSX-R and the R1 in the gravel, under the eyes of Valentino Rossi posted in that bend at this precise moment !

"Anyone can make mistakes: I’m not mad about the 1st round incident", will declare Nitro Nori even if he will admit to having been"very disappointed with the lack of apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing. In my opinion this is unprofessional".

Remarks that echo the attitude and comments made by Biaggi: "I was fighting for the podium but Nori and I crashed and we both fell", nonchalantly reports the Italian pilot … To be continued in the second round !

Bayliss therefore sees his victory greatly facilitated, while Corser and Kagayama – respective teammates of Haga and Biaggi! – inherited an unexpected podium and that Toseland crossed the finish line in 4th position, thus maintaining his lead in the championship. "We were lucky that Biaggi released Haga but we cannot rest on luck for the rest of the season.", notes the British.

SBK Misano results first round:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 Bayliss T. Ducati Xerox 38 ‘52.856 24
2 Corser T. Yamaha Motor Italia 38 ‘55.230 24
3 Kagayama Y. Suzuki Alstare Corona 39 ‘01.821 24
4 Toseland J. Honda hannspree 39 ‘03.966 24
5 Rolfo R. Honda hannspree 39 ‘11.565 24
6 Lanzi L. Ducati Xerox 39 ‘13.323 24
7 Laconi R. Kawasaki PSG-1 39 ‘14.928 24
8 Xaus R. Ducati Sterilgarda 39 ‘18.280 24
9 Neukirchner M. Suzuki Germany 39 ‘23.747 24
10 Smrz J. Ducati SC Caracchi 39 ‘30.580 24
11 Borciani M. Ducati Sterilgarda 39 ‘37.754 24
12 Sanchini M. Kawasaki PSG-1 39 ‘54.394 24
13 Morelli L. Honda DFX Corsica 40 ‘30.637 24
14 Ellison D. Ducati Perdecini 39 ‘25.479 23
15 Zaiser C. Agusta LBR 39 ‘32.622 23

Best round of the round: 1 ‘36.356 – Haga (21st round)
Best lap in previous race: – New track –

Supersport Race

Sofuoglu got off to the best start but was quickly overwhelmed by West and then Jones, who was still just as good as he started off the grid. Parkes, Roccoli and Foret followed closely behind, and Fabien wasted no time in overtaking the two Yamaha riders. Then a few bends further, the French and his Kawa overtake Sofuoglu and his Honda !

Charpentier was stuck in 10th position, behind Harms and Sanna and ahead of Fores and Tiberio. In front, Anthony West turns a second faster than his pursuers who are in order: Jones, Foret, Parkes, Sofuoglu and Fujiwara.

The fight intensified for second place: at the cost of very strong braking at the end of the straight line Fabien Foret passed Craig Jones. But the Briton refuses to admit defeat remains outside the French to try to recover his second place in the next left.

Unfortunately, when it comes time to take the brakes, Jones puts his Honda back on the right path … already occupied by Fabien! The front wheel of the ZX-6R is inevitably mowed by the rear wheel of the CBR600RR and Foret ends its race in the gravel…

"I am very unhappy with the other pilot’s maneuver. He was at the limits of his machine so I passed him. I knew it would be difficult to get past her in the chicane but I was already in front of him when he went around and came back in front of me", growled Fabien, whose championship counter will remain sadly blocked at 100 points this weekend….

A few turns later, Jones too had to retire, as did Brugnoni – replacing the fiery Nannelli – whose Ducati scattered a significant amount of oil on the track. The race was therefore interrupted in the 5th lap, the positions at the end of the 4th being as follows: West in the lead in front of Parkes (3 sec), Sofuoglu (3.4 s), Fujiwara (5.9 s), Sanna (8.1 s), Harms (8.3 s), Fores (8.5 s), Charpentier (8.8 s), Riba (9 s), etc.

A second start is therefore launched, the final classification taking into account the differences observed at the end of the 4th lap. Again, Sofuoglu enters the first corner in the lead, ahead of Fujiwara, West, Sanna, Roccoli, Charpentier and Parkes.

But West regained control in the second lap and gradually moved away from the peloton. Despite its maximum use of the track – and vibrators! -, Kenan Sofuoglu must fight ardently with a supercharged Sanna but also with Fujiwara, Roccoli and Parkes who are nibbling their delay.

Our double world champion Sebastien Charpentier is relegated to the background: his too slippery rear tire forces him to tap too much on his front tire, which also quickly loses all of its grip … From his 7th place on the 1st lap, General Seb will slide to 12th place, obtaining a disappointing 10th place in cumulative times.

Simone Sanna suffers the same fate: climbed to second place in the 4th lap, the Italian – who should have taken 8 seconds from Anthony West to hope to win! – will fail in 7th place in the second round, 6th place in the end.

On the contrary, Parkes made a superb comeback and was less than a second from West at the halfway point. In the 10th lap, Broc was only 9 tenths behind his young compatriot and teammate Anthony West. On the track at least, since taking into account the lap times of the first part of the race, N ° 23 is 3.9 seconds behind N ° 14…

And Sofuoglu has not said its last word! With three laps from the checkered flag, the Turkish returned to the wheel of Parkes on which he had a handicap of exactly 4 tenths at the end of the 1st round. "I knew I had to stay half a second behind him at the finish line", will note Parkes who wants to secure his 2nd place,"but in the end we were both driving to the limit" !

As often the finish is beautiful, the R6 n ° 24 and the Honda n ° 54 moving in all directions until passing under the checkered flag, less than a second behind the n ° 14 of the incredible Anthony West !

In the space of three races, the young 250cc driver thus obtained a second victory, and in the dry this time! "People will no longer be able to say that I won at Silverstone thanks to the weather (terrible, editor’s note, read)".

In corrected times, therefore, West finished first ahead of Parkes, Sofuoglu, Roccoli and Harms, whose very aggressive driving style was far from having gone unnoticed. On the French side, Charpentier finished just ahead of two of his compatriots Yohan Tiberio and Matthieu Lagrive, while Sebastien Gimbert courageously obtained the two points for 14th place.

"The whole team had the opportunity to see how well Sebastien had fought here in Misano, until the end, to finish 3 seconds behind Charpentier and 2 behind Tiberio! He of course started too far to play at the forefront, but had a fabulous race, leaving to consider the best for the future, if he manages to solve the problem of wasting time in practice that he experienced this weekend…", we say on the official website of the GMT94 team.

Sofuoglu therefore remains the leader of the 600cc category with 161 points but is no longer undisputed! Anthony West climbs to 5th place in the standings with 66 points obtained in only three races, while Foret retains his 2nd place (100 pts) ahead of Fujiwara (77) and Harms (70).

On the constructors’ side, Honda still leads with 181 points but Yamaha is slowly getting closer thanks to its young recruit (132 pts). Kawasaki 3rd avoids neutral and gains one point (111 in all) thanks to Boccolini, Suzuki is 4th with 57 points and Ducati last with 43 points.

SSP Misano results:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 West A. Yamaha World SSP 36 ‘47,866 22
2 Parkes B. Yamaha World SSP 36 ‘52.063 22
3 Sofuoglu K. Honda hannspree 36 ‘52.206 22
4 Roccoli M. Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni 37 ‘02.989 22
5 Harms R. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 37 ‘06.295 22
6 Sanna S. Honda Parkalgar 37 ‘06.607 22
7 Fores J. Honda HP Racing 37 ‘06.781 22
8 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 37 ‘12.948 22
9 Viziello G. Yamaha RG Team 37 ‘18.106 22
10 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 37 ‘19.499 22
11 Tiberio Y. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 37 ‘20.609 22
12 Lagrive M. Honda Intermoto Czech 37 ‘20.959 22
13 Veneman B. Suzuki Pioneer Hoegee 37 ‘21.458 22
14 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 37 ‘23.544 22
15 Boccolini G. Kawasaki PMS 37 ‘25.059 22

18

 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 37 ‘46.356 22

22

 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 38 ‘03.272 22
28 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 17 ‘32.102 10
4 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 5 ‘06.062 3

Best round of the round: 1 ‘39.109 – West (3rd round)
Best lap in previous race: – New track –

Provisional SSP classification:

Pilot Team Points
1 Sofuoglu K. Honda hannspree 161
2 Drill F. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 100
3 Fujiwara K. Honda althea 77
4 Harms R. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 70
5 West A. Yamaha World SSP 66
6 Veneman B. Suzuki Pioneer Hoegee 50
7 Parkes B. Yamaha World SSP 47
8 Roccoli M. Yamaha Italia 46
9 Nannelli G. Ducati SC Caracchi 43
10 Pitt A. Honda hannspree 40
11 Salom D. Yamaha Spain 34
12 Alfonsi L. Honda althea 34
13 Sanna S. Honda Parkalgar 30
14 Riba P. Kawasaki Gil Motor Sport 30

15

 Carpenter S. Honda hannspree 29

16

 Tiberio Y. Honda Stiggy Motorsport 29
23 Checa D. Yamaha GMT 94 20
24 Gimbert S. Yamaha GMT 94 15
25 Lagrive M. Honda Intermoto Czech 14
27 Enjolras J. Yamaha Tati Beaujolais 7
29 Leblanc G. Honda Vazy Racing Team 6

Second Superbike race

Once again Bayliss achieved the best takeoff on the Misano straight, followed by Biaggi, Haga, Corser and Kagayama. In a few turns, the reds – Bayliss, Haga and Corser – distance themselves from their pursuers: Biaggi, Toseland, Xaus and Kagayama.

Falling in the first round and wounded in the right leg and in the left wrist, the Roman Emperor "difficulty concentrating at the start of the race"As he tries to resist an attack from James in the Curva del Carro – became almost a pin in 2007 -, Max misses his braking and comes back elbows to elbows with Ruben.

The Italian lets the Spanish pass into the next left and finds himself again in the path of another driver – his teammate Kagayama – when approaching the straight line of the pits: somewhat disconcerted, Biaggi therefore completes his second lap in 6th position !

In the lead, the action is also at the rendezvous and after having titillated Bayliss, Corser slowly loses ground on Troy and Noriyuki. The n ° 21 and the n ° 41 start in the 3rd lap an impressive series of lap times, which the kicks and the glides of their respective 999 and R1 translate perfectly.

In the 6th lap, Biaggi passes in front of Rolfo – then 7th – and sets off in pursuit of Xaus. In front of this Spanish n ° 111, another chase is engaged: that of Kagayama against Toseland, whose Honda will not allow him yet this time to seek a place on the podium….

From the next lap, Kagayama passed the Briton but it was Biaggi who attracted all the attention since, barely freed from Xaus, the Suzuki rider fell on Toseland. However, it was not until the 14th lap to see the Suzuki pass the Honda at the end of the straight line..

In front, the pace does not decrease: on the 11th lap Bayliss is practically one second ahead of Haga, and 7 seconds over Troy Corser! Driving his second R1, the Australian n ° 11 benefits from a better engine but has to deal with a less well-adjusted chassis: "I kept losing the front. At one point I almost fell but fell back on the bike, hit the bubble and managed to continue", will testify the crocodile Corser !

Undoubtedly cooled by the behavior of his mule, Corser cannot counter the return of Kagayama in the 12th round, just as Toseland cannot resist the attacks of Biaggi eternally. The Italian thus becomes 5th in the race in the 14th loop, 1.5 seconds from Corser and 2.5 seconds from Kagayama.

The gaps stabilized in the peloton but at the same time Bayliss decided to move up a gear. From 1.4 seconds in the 14th round, the lead of the reigning world champion – and winner of the first round – drops to 4.6 seconds seven laps later !

A ditch widened thanks to the increase in pace of the Australian, but also due to the breakage of Haga’s rear brake pedal and the drop in the effectiveness of his painkillers – for his right elbow and wrist crippled during the first run -: "the race was going well when, about halfway, I started to feel sick", Nitro Nori will tell.

The end of the race will not lack suspense, however, since Kagayama and Corser will fight for the third step of the podium, finally climbed by a Max Biaggi always so fast at the end of the second round. !

Troy Bayliss therefore scores the maximum points this weekend (50) while Haga must be satisfied with his 20 points obtained in the second round. Biaggi scores only 16 points and Toseland limits the breakage with a total of 23 points over the two races.

James therefore retains the lead in the provisional championship with 260 points but Bayliss is only 21 points away! Haga is third with 234 points, Biaggi loses a new place this weekend (4th with 217 pts) and Corser is getting closer (182 pts). Regis Laconi is 11th (76 pts), doubled by Kagayama (89 pts) who signs his first podium of the year.

In the constructors’ standings, the fight is still very close: Ducati takes the lead (284 points) ahead of Yamaha (277 pts) and Honda (274) leader before this event! Suzuki has 233 points, Kawasaki 102 and MV Agusta score his first point of the season thanks to Smrz’s 15th place in the 1st round !

Continuation of the adventures: July 22 on the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic … Stay tuned !

SBK Misano results second round:

Pilot Team Time Tours
1 Bayliss T. Ducati Xerox 38 ‘43.506 24
2 Haga N. Yamaha Motor Italia 38 ‘46.043 24
3 Biaggi M. Suzuki Alstare Corona 38 ‘49.892 24
4 Kagayama Y. Suzuki Alstare Corona 38 ‘52.411 24
5 Corser T. Yamaha Motor Italia 38 ‘52.636 24
6 Toseland J. Honda hannspree 38 ‘57.473 24
7 Xaus R. Ducati Sterilgarda 39 ‘00.214 24
8 Rolfo R. Honda hannspree 39 ‘00.287 24
9 Lanzi L. Ducati Xerox 39 ‘00.818 24
10 Neukirchner M. Suzuki Germany 39 ‘16.571 24
11 Laconi R. Kawasaki PSG-1 39 ‘17,111 24
12 Nieto F. Kawasaki PSG-1 39 ‘24.757 24
13 Smrz J. Ducati SC Caracchi 39 ‘26.229 24
14 Nakatomi S. Yamaha YZF 39 ‘40.150 24
15 Sanchini M. Kawasaki PSG-1 39 ‘44.245 24

Best round of the round: 1 ‘36.022 – Bayliss (6th round)
Best lap in previous race: 1 ‘36.356 – Haga (2007)

Provisional SBK classification:

Pilot Team Points
1 Toseland J. Honda hannspree 260
2 Bayliss T. Ducati Xerox 239
3 Haga N. Yamaha Motor Italia 234
4 Biaggi M. Suzuki Alstare Corona 217
5 Corser T. Yamaha Motor Italia 182
6 Lanzi L. Ducati Xerox 133
7 Xaus R. Ducati Sterilgarda 130
8 Rolfo R. Honda hannspree 109
9 Neukirchner M. Suzuki Germany 100
10 Kagayama Y. Suzuki Alstare Corona 89
11 Laconi R. Kawasaki PSG-1 76
12 Fabrizio M. Honda DFX Corsica 59
14 Smrz J. Ducati SC Caracchi 53
13 Nieto F. Kawasaki PSG-1 50
15 Brookes J. Honda Alto Evolution 40

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